Faith is this: Never abandon ship in rough water

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Brian Dulli

Jesus Christ was no ordinary sailor. But what a man he was to have on board.

Jesus calmed the storm with only a word. Do we really believe that? Perhaps Jesus crossed the line. Wouldn't it be more human for Jesus to work at it with his disciples, side by side?

Jesus was certainly a carpenter. Why couldn't he be just as good of a sailor? Why does our Lord, literally, not lend a hand, particularly when the disciples are too shook up to tell starboard from port?

What is happening to the Church in the midst of this storm?

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday, June 25, 2006) Jb 38:1, 8-11 Ps 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31 2 Cor 5:14-17 Mk 4:35-41

There is a storm of persecution against our Church in this present age. Like the vessel of the disciples, the Church is inundated with waves. The waves mount higher than the bow of the ship. So too do waves of indignation break over and threaten to sink our Church.

In our day, all of the problems in our human society also determine the challenges that we must settle in the Church. We may wonder, "Is this really the chosen vessel that brings us safely to the shores of heaven?"

One of the goals of seminary training is human formation. Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan says, "As the seminarian goes, so too the priest." We try to be good men, with proper manners, sociability, sexual maturity, mental health, and all the rest. If we succeed at our task, we will, we hope, have happy, mannerly, friendly, chaste, and sane priests.

But what of the storm in our culture which has made humanity an endangered species? Hasn't all of our technology and entertainment made us cut corners, at times? Isn't it a dire challenge for us all to be more fully human? I think about my little vessel in the midst of these giant waves.

Humanly speaking, Jesus did nothing to right the ship, particularly by napping on a cushion. This Gospel emphasizes the divinity of Jesus. We believe that in Jesus Christ there are distinct human and divine natures. These natures do not mix or become confused. Jesus did what is human through his human nature. He slept.

Our good Lord has another level of activity that the disciples did not know about. The disciples believe that they are waking Jesus up! Yet in his divine plan, Jesus has seen every crest of every wave, and he has chosen this exact moment to wake the disciples from their slumber.

	Reflection questions • How do you nurture your humanity? • In your own life, what are the most difficult things to put into God's hands? Why? • Jesus is calling us to "wake up." What do you think he wishes you to see?

What Jesus revealed to them is the same now for us. We have fallen asleep. In the tumult of these waves, we miss one divine intervention after another. We cannot sail in troubled waters without faith. "Who then is this whom even the wind and the sea obey?"

We are called to have faith in Christ. It means this: never abandon ship. Our human nature will cooperate with his divine nature, merely by trust and perseverance. This is the miracle that will organize our Church and calm the storms in our lives.

Brian Dulli is a seminarian in his third year of theology for the Diocese of Madison. He attends Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill. Currently he is in a Spanish immersion program in Mexico.

St. Paul's Web site is www.stpaulscc.org

Faith Alive!

Faith Alive! is published bi-weekly during the summer. The next Faith Alive! will appear in the June 29, 2006 issue of the Catholic Herald.