12 th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B

This past week we had a number of opportunities to witness the great and powerful force of nature in the thunderstorms that moved through our area.

Thunderstorms, as we have experienced them on the highways, at the beach, on a golf course, whenever and wherever we have been when they have struck, are certainly a very scary weather event.

We have seen the power of nature, especially the weather, in a particularly unique way over the past year in hurricane Katrina and hurricane Rita, and we have also seen it in snow and ice storms in the winter in ways that also bring our lives to a halt.

In the face of dramatic weather events like thunderstorms, hurricanes, and snowstorms and blizzards, our ability to control the world around us gives way to our own relative impotence and the awesome power of the world of nature.

Our scripture readings today give us examples of the power of nature revealed in thunderstorms in both our reading from the book of Job and the gospel account of Jesus' disciples being caught in a storm at sea.

In both cases, while we marvel at the power of nature, we marvel all the more at the power of God which is revealed as being stronger even than the most frightening of storms or the power of the sea.

What is even most marvelous about God's power, however, beyond its extent and strength, is actually its gentleness and its ability to console and encourage.

In the book of Job, God asserts His power over nature not to reveal His dominance and superiority to Job, but rather to reveal His desire to bring comfort through order and stability in the world.

In the gospel, Jesus likewise does not assert His power over nature to reveal His dominance and superiority over His disciples. He rather reveals His desire to care for them, to comfort them, and to lead them to a deeper faith in Him.

In the book of Job and in the example of Jesus, we see a reflection of what St. Francis de Sales meant when he said that there is nothing as strong as gentleness and there is nothing as gentle as real strength.

Gentle strength is way of life that enables us truly to imitate the love of God who is for us both Creator and Redeemer and Savior on the one hand, and a caring and consoling and comforting friend on the other.

This past Friday we celebrated the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – and His Sacred heart is surely a sign for us not only of gentleness but also strength.

Last Thursday, we celebrated the feast of St. Thomas More, the patron of our diocese, a married man who was the Chancellor of England who chose to die rather than renounce his faith and loyalty to the Catholic Church and who went to his death as an example of gentle strength.

When we put into practice virtues such humility, gratitude, and generosity, when we are steadfast in being people who live with integrity, with a commitment to honesty, justice, and fairness, when we have compassion as well as commitment, we are people who ourselves can be living examples of gentle strength.

There is nothing as strong as gentleness and there is nothing as gentle as true strength.

St. Francis de Sales penned these words in the 17 th century. God revealed this truth in the scriptures and in the life of Jesus thousands of years ago. It remains for us to be people who give the example of gentle strength and ultimately of God's love in our world today.

Thomas P. Ferguson
June 25, 2006