Jesus calms our storms

Yesterday, due to the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, we didn’t get to hear the Gospel from Ordinary Time in which Jesus, with great crowds around him, decides to get into a boat with his disciples and go to the other side of the lake.

In the Gospel (Matthew 8: 23-27) today, Jesus is asleep in the boat when, without warning, a violent storm springs up – the boat is taking on water and the waves are breaking right across it.  The disciples go to Jesus, wake him and ask him for help.

Fr Paul says Jesus stood up to the storm, not only figuratively but also literally, rebuking it and in doing so brings calm.

The authority of Jesus is on display in this Gospel with the disciples, at the end, wondering what kind of man Jesus is… not who he is… but what kind of man is he?

Fr Paul says he has always loved this Gospel because all of us, at some time, have storms of one form or another that come into our lives; storms that threaten to swamp us. To him, this Gospel again demonstrates the pattern we saw last week:  someone has a need (in this case, the disciples); they take that need to Jesus, who responds in his way and in his time.

Today, in our prayer time, Fr Paul invites us to reflect – What are the storms in my life now? What are the things that threaten to swamp me? – And to take the time to bring them to Jesus, as the disciples did, and to ask him to respond to our needs.