God our Father

This morning I was thinking I should put together a reflection on the readings for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. I have not lost my love for writing or for blogging. I don't do either one as often as I'd like. Obviously, in the priorities of life blogging is a luxury. Besides that, I've been doing it for so long it's part of my life. Summertime is the most difficult season for me to blog. Yes, I am busy but I am busy all year round. It's hot. Especially as I grow older, I find the heat debilitating.

Today's reflection is more of a sketch than something carefully thought out and executed in writing. My sketch consists of four things that take into account today's readings and that today, throughout much of the world, is Father's Day:

The first line of the sketch is from the Collect for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time: "...you never deprive of your guidance those you set on the firm foundation of your love." Love is fundamental, foundational. Without God's love, without the God who is love (because God is Father, Son, and Spirit), nothing else matters. If you have not experienced for yourself the love of the Father given us in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit then there is a lack. It is a lack very much akin to the one someone who does not experience parental love and affection during her formative years.

What kind of Father is God? In his Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, through which he declared this year the Year of Saint Joseph, Pope Francis, writing about Saint Joseph noted: "Being a father entails introducing children to life and reality. Not holding them back, being overprotective or possessive, but rather making them capable of deciding for themselves, enjoying freedom and exploring new possibilities."

At the same time, a good father never just disappears or abandons his child. In today's Gospel Jesus is asleep in the boat as the storm rages. After he is awakened by his alarmed disciples and after he halts the wind and calms the sea, he gently asks those on board why they were frightened and if they do not yet "have faith" (Mark 4:40). The trust that arises from faith is hope, the confidence that God is with us even in life's storms.

I think it's really important to note that something about today's Gospel that is quite obvious: Jesus is not on the shore, walking across the water, or hovering above them. As they "cross to the other side," he is with them in the boat while the storm rages (Mark 4:35). In this regard, I was quite moved today by a tweet someone shared with me: "can't think of a better father's day gospel than jesus taking a nap while all kinds of shit is going down."

Taking into account the kind of Father God is, he doesn't necessarily, or even most often, deliver you from the storm but, as the passion, death, and resurrection of his Son powerfully demonstrates, he brings you through it to the far shore. As I considered these things, the third verse of the hymn "Amazing Grace" popped into my head:

Through many dangers,
toils and snares
I have already come,
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.

Yes, the kind of radical trust to which Jesus alludes in today's Gospel, which he exemplified in his own life, cuts against the grain of our human tendencies. But, as Paul's words in our second reading remind us: "Whoever is in Christ is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Experiencing the love of the God who is love creates you anew.

It is not an accident that Jesus in today's Gospel, just like the ruah (i.e., breath) of God in the creation account found in the Bible's first chapter, as God's Word brings order from chaos. Let's not be naive. All your troubles don't go away in a flash. But if, as a new creation, you are built on the solid foundation of God's love, you see things from a different perspective and understand that this storm, too, shall pass, that God is with you and will bring you safely to shore.