Tuesday – 13th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Matthew 8:23-27

The Storms of Life

Stormy Tennessee Morning

Like most of the country, we have been experiencing some extreme weather lately.  Heavy thunderstorms and rain on Saturday night and most of the day Sunday!  And as we head toward 4th of July on Saturday (and my Bday on Friday the 3rd), oppressive heat and humidity.  Ugh!  The heavy rains Sunday morning made for some tricky driving to Mass on Sunday.  Country roads are always a bit of a challenge, but when you add heavy rain, ditches turning into flooded rivers and water cascading down the hills onto the road, well driving is not for the faint-hearted!

That’s where the disciples are in today’s Gospel.  This is no leisurely ride on the Sea of Galilee.  Storms pop up out of nowhere and this one is terrifying even for the disciples, most of whom are fishermen and should be used to it.  They are scared and fearful for their life.  And Jesus?  Well, He is sleeping! 

After awakening, He rebukes them for being worried for their safety. He reminds them that He is right there with them.  And then He simply calms the sea and the storm subsides.

Perhaps the lesson is this – Jesus was right there.  The disciples forgot He was right there and they lost faith.  How often do we do the same thing?  All the trials, all the stresses and hardships that life throws at us, all the times when we feel hopeless and fearful for our life.  How could we forget?  Jesus is right there with us!  He is always with us!  Trust in God!  Trust in Him always being there for us!  In the midst of the storm, have a little faith! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Feast of the Presentation Gospel – Luke 2:22-40 We Are Family Church of St. Joseph, Nazareth 5 extremely short stories to start the day! Once all the people in a village decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith. When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That is trust. Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but we still set the alarm to wake up. That is hope. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That is confidence. We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That is love. Faith, hope, love, confidence and trust!   Sounds like a perfect list of values/virtues for a happy family! Today’s Gospel tells us of another family – the Holy Family going up to Jerusalem with the baby Jesus to present Him to the Lord in ...
Read more
Image
Sunday – Feast of Corpus Christi Gospel – Luke 9:11b-17 Loaves and Fishes Church at Tabgha Throughout those 2 years of isolation from Covid,   I really missed my St. Kateri community.   I missed my native brothers and sisters.   I miss crowding ourselves into the chapel on a Sunday morning for Mass.   And I miss our community potluck meal afterwards. I think that I missed that simple meal the most; it speaks volumes to me about the community and about the values that should define our lives.   I said a ‘simple’ meal but actually it’s more of a constant miracle.   Jody, our director, and/or Ginger provide the main course.   And that’s it!   All the rest – sides, salads, pasta, dessert, bread and drinks   - all of that is left to the community.   Bring something to share!   We never know how many people will come!   We never know what they will bring!   Ginger always calls it a “loaves and fishes” event! ...
Read more
Image
Tuesday - Third Week of Easter Gospel – John 6:30-35 Knead to Know Cooking Class Over the past month or so, I gathered together a couple groups of my altar servers for a cooking class!   They learned not only my recipe for zucchini chocolate chip muffins but how to make them from scratch!   And, YES, they took home their finished products, or at least the muffins they didn’t wolf down as soon as they came out of the oven!   It was a fun, wonderful (and messy) experience!   Who knew that cracking eggs and measuring out flour could be so ‘untidy’.   But it brought home the lesson that, in order to get those yummy muffins, it takes time, effort and a heaping cup of patience. And it reminded me not only of their loyal service but those long months of Covid when they missed their Mass ministry.   So from time to time during the pandemic, I stayed in touch with them by dropping off goodie bags filled with chocolate chip cookies, zucchini chocolate ...
Read more