What Are You Afraid Of ?

Gospel Mark 4: 35-41

Jesus calms the storm at sea and calms His disciples in the process

As 4-year-old Tommy watched his mother prepare their evening meal, she asked him to get a can of tomato soup from the pantry. Tommy was afraid and didn’t want to go in the pantry. “It’s dark in there and I’m afraid.” But she asked again, and he responded the same way. Finally she said, “It will be alright—Jesus will be in there with you.” Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it, saw the darkness and with fear he started to leave when he got an idea, and he said: “Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?”

We all fear something: Flying, bugs, roller coasters, heights, you name it. We probably would not be human if we didn’t fear something. Today’s Gospel tells us about the disciples—fisherman, for heaven’s sake—petrified with fear when a storm raged at sea. Jesus, asleep on a cushion, is awakened and commands the winds and the sea to be quiet.

How many storms have we faced in our lives? How often have we felt our boat would be capsized? We, too, may have been petrified with fear until we realized that putting our faith in Jesus is the only thing that would calm the storm—not make it go away, not prevent another one from happening, but calm the storm—giving us exactly what we needed at the time. Faith in God always conquers fear.

Let’s discuss this as a family:

What is your biggest fear? 

Why do you fear that? (Everyone answer this)

What can we do as a family to help conquer that fear?

What role does your faith play in conquering that fear?

Today is also Father's Day - so a prayer for all dad's:

God Our Father,

We thank you for giving us Dad

and for the many ways he shows us your fatherly care.

On this special day we ask you to bless him

with your peace and joy.

Give him the strength and the understanding

that he needs to care for us as a family.

Help us to appreciate more all he does for us

and to show him how much we love him.

Amen

IT’S TIME FOR AN UPGRADE

Well, we’re back to “Ordinary Time.” 

Vestment colours have changed to green and the first Gospel we hear is Mark’s account of Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. We might find ourselves saying, “I’ve heard it before just like I’ve heard other stories in the Gospels over and over. What’s the point?” Good stories bear repeating. How often have we read the same bedtime story to our children or grandchildren? How often have we seen the Wizard of Oz? The Gospel stories, however, are not meant to entertain but to CHALLENGE us! 

So, we’ve heard the story before, we say. Does it mean the same as the last time we heard it? If so, perhaps we haven’t grown in our faith. Growing means moving forward. To move forward, just like the mustard seed needs water and sunshine and good soil, we need something for our faith to grow. Last Sunday we heard what that was—the Eucharist. But we also heard Eucharist is a way of life—not just something we receive on Sunday and forget about. If that’s the extent of our faith-life: coming to Mass on Sunday, listening to the readings, and going home, then just like the mustard seed would die, so would our faith. We have to change. We need to be UPGRADED. 

Think about the evolution of cellphones from the 5-pound monstrosity we saw in the 1980’s to today’s iPhone 6. Now that’s an UPGRADE! Every other week it seems we’re asked to download the latest upgrade—software designed to make it better.

Let’s focus on our faith like we focus on our phones. There’s a text message waiting for you: “It’s time for an UPGRADE. It’s time to UPGRADE our FAITH”

Let’s discuss this as a family: 

•Describe the last time or the incident where your faith was UPGRADED. 

•Did you keep the latest UPGRADE or did you revert back to an older version? Why? 

The Eucharist: A Way of Life

Today’s Gospel reading mentally takes us back a couple of months ago to Holy Thursday and the Last Supper. We’ve heard it before from each of the Gospel writers and our focus is on the institution of the Eucharist—the bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ. 

Eucharist is not something we do right before the priest dismisses us each Sunday. Eucharist is something we live. In Mark’s account today, the disciples ask Jesus, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” Today we would ask, “Where do you want us to go and celebrate Eucharist?” The meaning here is much deeper. We’re not talking about being “fed,” we’re talking about “feeding.” 

Eucharist stretches far beyond the Mass. Eucharist is how we interact with those that are hungry, homeless, naked, sick and imprisoned. Eucharist is the way we obey the two great commandments—love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. On this Feast of Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ), the message is this: Thank you, Jesus, for giving us your Body and Blood in the Eucharist. Now where do you want us to go and share it with others? 

Let’s discuss this as a family: 

1. What was one of your most favorite meal times together with your family? What made that meal together so special? 

2. What difference does the weekly celebration of Mass make in your life? 

3. What simple things do you do to “feed” others on a daily basis?