Gospel: February 1, 2025
February 1, 2025 (Saturday)
3rd Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 3 (Green/White)
Blessed Virgin Mary
Lk 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
1st Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Faith is the assurance of what we hope for, being certain of what we cannot see. Because of their faith, our ancestors were approved. It was by faith, that Abraham, called by God, set out for a country that would be given to him as an inheritance; for he parted without knowing where he was going. By faith, he lived as a stranger in that promised land. There, he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, beneficiaries of the same promise. Indeed, he looked forward to that city of solid foundation, of which God is the architect and builder. By faith, Sarah, herself, received power to become a mother, in spite of her advanced age; since she believed that, he, who had made the promise, would be faithful. Therefore, from an almost impotent man, were born descendants, as numerous as the stars of heaven, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.
Death found all these people strong in their faith. They had not received what was promised, but they had looked ahead, and had rejoiced in it, from afar, saying that they were foreigners and travelers on earth. Those who speak in this way prove, that they are looking for their own country. For, if they had longed for the land they had left, it would have been easy for them to return, but no, they aspired to a better city, that is, a supernatural one; so God, who prepared the city for them, is not ashamed of being called their God. By faith, Abraham went to offer Isaac, when God tested him. And so, he, who had received the promise of God, offered his only son, although God had told him: Isaac’s descendants will bear your name. Abraham reasoned, that God is capable even of raising the dead, and he received back his son, which has a figurative meaning.
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41
On that same day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” So they left the crowd, and took him along in the boat he had been sitting in, and other boats set out with him. Then a storm gathered and it began to blow a gale. The waves spilled over into the boat, so that it was soon filled with water. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up, and said, “Master, don’t you care if we drown?” And rising up, Jesus rebuked the wind, and ordered the sea, “Quiet now! Be still!” The wind dropped, and there was a great calm. Then Jesus said to them, “Why are you so frightened? Do you still have no faith?” But they were terrified, and they said to one another, “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Reflection:
“His heart keeps vigil.”
There is panic in the air in today’s Gospel. And yet, in the midst of the chaos of the scene, with the gale blowing, the waves crashing over the boat and the cries of the disciples, Jesus lies calmly sleeping on a cushion. Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters and the chaos, so now Christ rests upon the waters. The Lord of creation is in charge, and yet, his disciples do not recognize it. “Master, don’t you care if we drown?” Their faith in Jesus is being tested in the confusion of the storm.
He awakes and all is calm, and they are struck with awe. In her early trials over her vocation, St. Thérèse of Lisieux likened herself to the boat in the storm. In her image, the night is so dark that she cannot even see Jesus sleeping in her boat, and so her faith and trust have to be even greater. However, she came to realize that although Christ in his stillness appears to sleep, his heart “keeps vigil” (cf. Song of Songs 5:2). He is watching over us always. He’s in charge.
