The Word of God on these four Sundays invites us to take a road that goes through the awareness of God’s power in our lives, the importance of faith and being commissioned as disciples.
On June 21, XII Sunday of Ordinary Time, we find the Apostles asking: Lord, does it not matter to you that we perish? And Jesus shows them his power over the storm and invites them to faith.
On June 28, XIII Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Word presents us two cases of absolute faith: Jairus and the woman with a hemorrhage. Thanks to the faith of this woman and this man, Jesus shows all his power to heal and restore life.
On July 5, XIV Sunday of Ordinary Time, we see Jesus back in his homeland where, due to the lack of faith among the people, his power is limited and only can heal a few.
On July 12, XV Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Word presents us the Twelve sent by Jesus to heal and preach.
So the path to which the Word invites us is to go from an inital lack of faith — in which we as disciples ask ourselves if it does not matter to God what happens to us — to that final faith, to that total openness to God and his working in us that makes us disciples, that makes us witnesses and envoys of his love.
To be able to take this road, we must remember, go back through our memories and our hearts to contemplate all the moments in which God has acted in our lives, all the moments in which we have been aware of the love, forgiveness, the healing of God working in us and in our families. God lives in us and never tires, never sleeps, but He is always working to protect us and make us more like Jesus. Being aware of this concrete action of God will help us to grow in our faith.
Our growth in confidence in God’s action and his unconditional commitment to us is very important; God respects our liberty and only can work in us with all his power if we open ourselves completely through the faith. We saw already how Jesus could not do much in his homeland due to the lack of faith among the people, but if we open ourselves completely, if we confide totally in God, his power is limitless as in the case of Jairo and the bleeding woman.
After doubting a lot, the disciples became aware of Jesus’ actions and opened themselves completely to Him. They ended up serving, like Him, as the Father’s envoys to preach, to heal, to continue Jesus’ mission. If we open ourselves completely to God, we will become aware that our life will change completely and we will be every time more humble and compassionate envoys continuing Jesus’ mission.
Father Ruiz Sierra, who was ordained to the priesthood on June 20, will become parochial vicar at St. Benedict Parish in Canandaigua on June 30.
