Jesus asks the question: "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" (Mk 4: 40) This remains valid for Christians today. We are not in a boat but we are buffeted by the pandemic, sex abuse scandals, declining numbers at Mass, hostile ideologies and our own private worries. The first reading reminds us of the majesty and omnipotence of God. Job suffered terribly even though he was righteous. He could not fathom God's ways and neither could his companions who kept insisting that he must have sinned. The effect of Christ is testified to in the second reading. We do not live in a perilous, unpredictable or aimless Universe. We are not crushed by suffering or persecution. It is the love of Christ that urges us on since his death and resurrection are the ultimate guarantee of God's power to save. We have the first installments of this salvation already at work in us and this gives us great joy and a sense of purpose. Let us not be intimidated by spiritual or material threats. We have been baptized into Christ and it is he who will vindicate his life in us: "So if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation: everything has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Cor 5: 17).
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