Word to the Wise
Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - Tuesday in the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
[Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12 and Matt 8:23-27]As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea so that the boat was being swamped by waves, but he was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" He said to them, "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said,"What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?" [Matthew]
JUNE 28 ST. IRENAEUS, bishop and martyr
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A friend of mine once gave me a small plaque with the following words on it: Sometimes the Lord calms the storm; and sometimes the Lord lets the storm rage and calms his child. Which would you prefer?
There are a number of things worth notice in today's gospel scripture besides the spectacular command of Jesus over wind and sea! First of all, the disciples "followed" Jesus into that boat. OK, there was that much faith. But why was Jesus able to sleep in that tossing boat? Is there nothing more exasperating than somebody who doesn't seem to notice that your world is falling apart? And are your feelings any better when you tell them about it and they say, "Why are you afraid? Don't you have faith in God?" Does the Lord really expect us to be able to take a nap in a storm-tossed boat? That is not the question, however. The question is about faith and how strong it is!
There are times when we may feel that the Lord is asleep when our life is falling apart. OK, at least we can do the equivalent of "waking up Jesus" and admitting we don't know what to do since our efforts to bail out the boat aren't enough! In this scene, the Lord first calms the child and then calms the storm. "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?"
I have found in my years of counseling students whose lives are in a mess that a hug or its equivalent in assurance is the best place to start before tackling the mess. Keeping the boat afloat is easier when you know that the Lord will help. AMEN