Gb 38,1.8-11; Ps 106 (107); 2 Cor 5: 14-17; Mk 4.35-41

The episode of the storm is narrated by Mark at the end of the chapter of the parables. What happens in this boat is also a parable of the Kingdom. Jesus sleeps in the stern as the seed rests in the ground. The sower must have confidence in the power of the seed, which seems inactive, while instead mysteriously releases its vitality. Likewise, the disciples must learn to trust in Jesus and in his salvation, even when he sleeps. The sleep itself of Jesus is not an expression of carelessness, but of trust. Even in the gravity of danger he remains like a child who can fall asleep confidently in the arms of his father or mother. It is the sleep of those who know they are guarded. Should we perhaps understand the question that he addresses to the disciples not so much as: “do you not yet have faith in me”, as: “do you not yet have faith in the Father like me?”. We are not spared from going through the storm, we are given to do so with a heart full of trust in God rather than fear. With the heart of those who sleep the sleep of a trust. Dominating the sea, closing it “between two doors” and fixing it “a limit” (cf. Job 38,8-10), Jesus repeats the creative gesture of God. In him the Father calls us to become “a new creature”. The old things, those that frighten us, have passed away; behold, new ones are born: the new things of faith and hope (cf. 2 Cor 5:17).

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey