Jb 38:1, 8-11; 2 Cor 5:14-17; Mk 4:35-41
The gospel is about the calming of the storm. After a day of teaching, Jesus decided to cross the Sea of Galilee, perhaps to find a place for him and his disciples to rest. The disciples took him in a boat, while some other smaller ships of people followed them. Suddenly, a great storm erupted which threatened to break the boat. The situation might had been very critical because the disciples panicked, including some who were experienced fishermen. They woke Jesus up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus rebuked the wind and spoke to the waves of the sea, and then there was quiet and calm. And he said to the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Spiritual writers describe a parallelism between the crossing of the Sea of Galilee with our own voyage of life. The sea is our family, our community, our working place, our school and our heart itself. We all are aware that both in large and small seas, storms can be unleashed.
Who has not experienced some of these storms in life, when everything is dark and our little boat is about to overturn, while the Lord appears to be silent or absent? An unwanted pregnancy, a diagnosis of cancer, a job termination, a car accident, a runaway child, an infidelity in marriage – and all so quickly, we find ourselves in the midst of a perfect storm.
What are we going to do? Where shall we find refuge? Who are we calling for help? The Lord does not give us instructions on how to escape the storms of life. There is no Christian strategy on how to run away from difficulties and trials. Jesus, however, has promised to give us the courage and strength to overcome any storm or trial if we ask him for it.
The gospel invites us to put our sole trust in God. What saved the disciples from banishing into the stormy sea was the fact of having Jesus in the boat, from the start of the journey up to the end. This also is our principal defense against all storms of life – to keep the Lord in our life, which means to have Jesus with us in our family, in our community, in our work and in all our endeavors.
Like the disciples, sometimes we doubt if God really cares. If this is the case with you, simply recall the lyrics of the famous anecdote entitled “Footprints in the Sand.”
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.”
The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
(The story is told by Carolyn Carty)
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