blessed Virgin Mary 

＊＊＊ 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 heavens, 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.

 

LK 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel;

he has come to his people.

 

＊＊＊＊ 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.” So they left the crowd and took him away 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. And Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

They woke him up and said, “Master, don’t you care if we sink?” As Jesus awoke, he 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!”

 

Gospel Reflection：

In the Jewish tradition, if wind, darkness and water comes together it will generate chaos. And chaos is the abode of the devil. In our gospel, the boat containing Jesus and His disciples were buffeted by strong winds and waves in near darkness.

But Jesus sleeps peacefully amidst this turbulence. His disciples were afraid. They wake Him up and immediately He displayed His mastery over the elements.

We are reminded of how creation began, it is when God imposed order in the primordial chaos that life began. In Jesus, creation is once again renewed because He will restore order to the world brought in chaos by sin.