He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” (Mark 4:39-41 NABRE)
These stories of Jesus are not cute fairy tales made up as entertainment. Nor were they designed to mislead anyone. They represent the collective memory of the witness made by the Apostles of Jesus.
When his friends panicked about their immediate circumstance, Jesus confronted them. This was not some soft comforting scene like a mother calming a hurt child. This was a challenge to their faith, posed immediately after Jesus actually displayed his power over the wind and the water. It is a retelling of some one's actual memory of the event.
Sometimes it is good to remember, specifically, that Jesus, the almighty Son of God, was also a man who lived for a time among us. And it is also good to remember that just his word subdued the storm.
In the storms that surround us, let us challenge ourselves to remain faithful and to trust Jesus.
Today, I will place my trust in Jesus. Jesus, I trust in you.
Saint Hyacintha of Mariscotti, who lived the words of Saint Francis, "Blessed is the servant who would accept correction, accusation, and blame from another as patiently as he would from himself. Blessed is the servant who when he is rebuked quietly agrees, respectfully submits, humbly admits his fault, and willingly makes amends," pray for us.
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