12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Job 38:1,8-11
Mk 4:35-41
They woke him…
Brothers and sisters, I have been training for Hyrox, a functional fitness race, for a few months now. The race is a test of speed, strength and endurance because it comprises eight intervals of 1km runs, interspersed with eight functional fitness stations including pushing a 102kg sled, burpee broad jumps and ending off with 75 reps of wall balls. I decided to take a leap of faith because an enthusiastic, much younger colleague than I, said we should take on the challenge as a pair. We could thus share the load of the functional fitness stations in the race and cheer each other on as we progressed towards the finish line. In training for the race, I ended up paying more attention to certain techniques and strategies in my workouts. And as a result, I was not afraid to try lifting heavier weights or to go for longer sessions of conditioning; I felt calm and trusted myself to push further as my training progressed.
In today’s Gospel reading, we read about Jesus’ calming of the storm at sea. The disciples only wake Jesus up when they sense danger. It is only when it “began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped”, that they wake him up. They only call on him to do something when they are going down! However, as soon as Jesus wakes up, he rebukes the wind and the sea and brings a great calm. His divine power successfully calms not only the storm but, more importantly, transforms the disciples’ feelings of fear to ones of awe and assurance.
In reflecting on today’s Gospel, I drew some parallels between the passage and my Hyrox training. First, how wonderful it is to know that you have a friend in the same boat when you are faced with a challenge; you know you are not alone and you can call on someone to share the load. Let us always remember what a friend we have in Jesus, and how we are called to take all our fears and challenges to him in prayer. Second, are we letting our faith sleep and waiting for an opportunity to call upon it? Why are we not more proactive in awakening the presence of God within us to be the best versions of ourselves and to glorify Him? And lastly, when we take the time to pay attention to Jesus’ presence and power amidst the challenges in our life, we will feel a shift from feelings of fear to ones of calm. Only when we have experienced such a change of heart, can we truly say we are believers of Christ, and look forward to living in the kingdom of God.
I look forward to awakening God’s spirit in my heart more, and I trust he will keep me feeling calm as I embrace my upcoming Hyrox race.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Stacey Fernandez)
Prayer: Jesus, I pray for the grace to awaken your presence in me more, each and every day.
Thanksgiving: Jesus, I thank you for being by my side to protect and care for me in all the storms I face.
OXYGEN 
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