Today’s Gospel is a beautiful parable about staying true to God while surrounded by a world that seems to give Him little thought. The storm tossed boat is an image of life, the life of the Church on the storms of history and the life of every Christian as he struggles with hardship and doubt. The apostle’s fear of the unknown is something we encounter everyday. We do not always recognize or understand God’s mysterious actions in our lives. And that can cause us to fear.
Do we allow the wind and rain of this world to distract us from our faith? Do the waves of our pagan culture threaten to overwhelm us? God is greater than the storm that is the world today. If we keep our eyes on Him and hold fast to our faith then the wind and the sea of secular society cannot touch us. Jesus tells us if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains. Imagine then, what we could do if we just had enough faith to keep our eyes fixed on Him.
God uses the world to announce His coming, he is not in the storm, or the earthquake, or the fire. These are his heralds. God is in the tiny whispering sound that comes after them. Jesus is the still small voice that whispers to all of us. “Why do you doubt?” “Why are you afraid” “I will be with you always, unto the end of the age.”
Pax Vobiscum
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time