Today’s readings can be found here.
Matthew 8:23-27
Reflection
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
How many times have we been in a situation like the one described in today’s Gospel? How many times have we gone through trials so hard that make us wonder if God is asleep? And lo and behold, a storm broke out in the sea so violent that the boat was covered by the waves; “but Jesus was sleeping.”
The first lesson we need to learn from the disciples is that, in this kind of situation, we must learn to pray sincerely: “The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’”
Too often we either despair or distrust God. Praying means knowing there is Someone we can turn to even if in anger and disappointment.
“And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?’ Then he got up, he rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.”
Believing in God when he solves our problems is rather easy. But we can learn to believe in Him when everything seems lost. It is precisely then when we can say “I am in your hands. Do what you want with me because I know that you love me.” Then we learn to welcome the storms, as they can never really take our peace away. Some things, when lived with faith, can thrash us but not bury us.
~
Father Luigi Maria Epicoco is a priest of the Aquila Diocese and teaches Philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University and at the ISSR ‘Fides et ratio’, Aquila. He dedicates himself to preaching, especially for the formation of laity and religious, giving conferences, retreats and days of recollection. He has authored numerous books and articles. Since 2021, he has served as the Ecclesiastical Assistant in the Vatican Dicastery for Communication and columnist for the Vatican’s daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
