PRI Reflections on Scripture | Saturday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time

Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

Choose either the video or audio below.

Gospel
Mark 4:35-41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

 

Reflection
Jesus is always calling the disciples to greater understanding of who he is and how he works with them. And what is clear is that he's always teaching them, taking them to a new other side, to a new way of seeing something. And it's clear that he's saying they have within them a power that they don't yet fully realize it, that in the midst of the most terrifying things, they can find a deep, profound calm based in the simple truth that God is in charge of everything and nothing happens to us that he doesn't allow.

 

Closing Prayer
Father, we have such limited understanding of the ways in which you work with each of us. We know intellectually that difficulty brings about great growth and great insights, but we're not always open to it or ready for it when it comes. So bless us with the confidence that nothing will happen to us that isn't in your plan for us, and you will always be a source of peace and calm in the midst of all things. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Kyle Cross