Tuesday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint Irenaeus
June 28, 2016 8:30am
Readings: Amos
3:1-8, 4:11-12
Matthew
8:23-27
At some point in life, we will
all find ourselves in a storm.
It might be an emotional
depression, maybe a very threatening medical diagnosis, maybe the loss of a
job, maybe financial troubles that seem insoluble, maybe a marital crisis, maybe
a division in our family, maybe the death of a loved one, and on and on it can
go.
In these moments, we can wonder:
where do I turn?
Where can I go with all of this?
The event in today’s gospel gives
us an idea.
We can do what the apostles did on
the Sea of Galilee.
They turn to the Lord and say,
“Lord, save us, we are drowning.”
We might find ourselves saying
the same thing.
Jesus is teaching us today that
he is with us in these storms of life.
And so, we need to be aware of
him and turn to him – in faith and in prayer.
And, if we do that, there may or
may not be a quick resolution or even any resolution to the storm itself.
But, there will be someone,
Jesus, there with us.
And what he will calm may not be
the stormy waters and winds around us.
But he will bring calm or at
least some calm within us.
There will be some inner
steadiness and calm and strength that will come from Jesus
.
We do this through prayer, the Eucharist,
the Scripture and the community of faith.
We prepare for turning to Jesus
in the storms that will come – and this is very important – we prepare for this
by turning to him when the storms are not there and things are calm.
Because if we do this at those
times, then our hearts and minds will be open and more able to feel that
steadying and calming and strengthening presence of the Lord in the storms.
