I Met God Today

Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Reflection on the Gospel Mark 4:35-41 20 June 2021 This Sunday’s Gospel is filled with atmosphere. It begins as darkness approaches. Soon, a gale is blowing, waves are crashing and a boat is in danger of ‘going down!’ In my mind, it is inextricably connected to another moment filled with atmosphere – a dark Roman evening in March 2020, slightly over two weeks after the World Health Organisation declared a pandemic. I imagine I will never again hear or read this text without being transported back to that time. The choice of this episode from Mark’s Gospel for that March evening was an inspired one and the Pope’s homily is to be read and pondered more than once. [1] Nevertheless, what remains in my memory is not words, but images and impressions: Pope Francis praying alone in the rain, in the darkness, in a virtually empty St Peter’s Square. It was a visually striking moment of prayer, both reassuring and filled with foreboding. In a sense, for many of...

In today's Gospel, Jesus teaches. There are crowds listening to him as he teaches about discipleship. What he says is challenging and demanding. Being his disciple is hard, but it is not impossible. Today, these words may give heart to struggling disciples ...                                                                                                                         ... let your light shine. More than once in John's Gospel, Jesus declares: ' I am the light of the world'. Here, Jesus declares: ' You are the light of the ...