WHY ARE YOU AFRAID?
One of the most poignant, dramatic pages of the Old Testament is read to us today. David, the faithful servant of God, has committed adultery and murder. The prophet arouses the king’s indignation against those committing injustice and then tells David: That is what you have done! That man is you! The king’s acknowledgment and repentance is immediate and deep; God’s forgiveness too is instantaneous and absolute. “That person is you” applies often to us too; when we judge and condemn, is it not often our faults we condemn in others?
Many people are afraid today. Our times are very insecure in many aspects, with wars, violence, and economic and moral crises. Life seems to move too fast for many. And the Church, in its leaders and members, is often upset and afraid. God seems far away, like a God who sleeps, a God who seems indifferent to our fears and incertitude. Where are our faith and hope? Let us turn to him who journeys with us and wakes us up, Jesus, our Lord and brother here among us.
First Reading: 2 Samuel 12:1-12
But God was not at all pleased with what David had done and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him.
“One day a traveller dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.”
David exploded in anger. “As surely as God lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!”
“You’re the man!” said Nathan. “And here’s what God, the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master’s daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn’t been enough, I’d have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of God with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite’s wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is God speaking, remember! I’ll make trouble for you out of your own family. I’ll take your wives from right out in front of you. I’ll give them to some neighbor, and he’ll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I’m doing mine with the whole country watching!”
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41
Late that day he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?”
Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, “Quiet! Settle down!” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?”
They were in absolute awe, staggered. “Who is this, anyway?” they asked. “Wind and sea at his beck and call!”
Prayer
God of power and might,
when we cry out to you in the tempest of life,
reassure us that you care and that you are with us,
even when you seem absent and silent.
Let our faith remain calm and peaceful
and deepen it in every trial.
Keep us believing that the waves obey you,
and that at your command, the powers of evil cannot harm us.
Stay with us through your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever. Amen.
Video available at: bibleclaret.org
