Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Kathy Weider
Opening Prayer
Loving God, open us to Your holy Word which is meant for our instruction and inspiration. Open our hearts and teach us Your ways of love and peace, forgiveness and healing. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Readings
Job 38:1, 8-11
2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Mark 4:35-41
Reflection
If you have watched the TV show, “The Chosen,” you know that it is an excellent depiction of Jesus calling His disciples, teaching them, and training them to carry on His preaching and healing. When I saw the first few episodes, I was very struck by the motley variety of men and women He called to follow Him. A few were fishermen trying to support their families…one was possessed…and then there was Matthew, the tax collector.
Through His years with them, Jesus not infrequently got impatient with them. “How long have I been with you, and you still don’t understand!” The fact is that Jesus’ teaching was hard, and challenging – both to understand it, and also to live it!
The story in today’s Gospel, Mark 4:35-41, is one such example. It tells of the storm that comes up while Jesus and His disciples are in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is asleep, exhausted from long days and evenings of teaching and curing people who came to Him. The storm is bad, with the waves crashing over the side of the boat, and it was taking on water. In a panic, the disciples wake Jesus, asking Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus rebuked the wind and calmed the sea. Then His disciples were in awe and said, “Who is this that even the wind and sea obey him?”
The disciples listen to Jesus and believe in Him – but when stormy times come, they weaken, even thinking He doesn’t care. And after Jesus was arrested, those who had said they would die with Him, instead deny him and run away in fear. We are just like those early followers – thinking we are sure in our faith, but when times are tough, or stormy, we weaken and don’t always measure up. That is human nature.
I don’t usually quote athletes, but this quote by basketball superstar Michael Jordan, humbly sums it up: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed!”
We are human, and no matter how good or talented we are, we still miss the goal sometimes and lose the game.
The great Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II, once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” Just think of wives taking care of their husbands with dementia – vice versa. She can be so patient day in and day out, answering the same questions multiple times in one day, having to remind her husband who she is. It takes a saint to do this – but even saints can get impatient occasionally.
So we spend our lives praying for the grace to remember God’s constant, unconditional love for us! We pray that our faith may be strong, and we seek the strength and the courage to live our faith day by day, loving and serving all those we meet.
Hopefully we keep growing in our love for God and our willingness to take risks, as Jesus and His disciples did, We never “arrive.” We’ll never be perfect, but we are enough.
Bob Marley once said, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” The disciples weren’t ready for Jesus to die. They betrayed Jesus, ran away, and hid. Yet after the Resurrection and Pentecost they went out, with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to carry on what Jesus began.
Personal Reflection
Think of some period in your life when you experienced some kind of “stormy weather.” What happened? What was so troubling? How did you handle it? Did you feel like God was sleeping and you were alone? Did you call on God for help? Did it help? At some point did you experience God’s presence? What did you learn?
Closing Prayer
Ever-faithful, ever-present God, please increase our faith in You. Please strengthen our trust in You. In times of trouble help us to remember that You are always with us, and that your grace is always enough – one day at a time! And may we live each day with love and profound gratitude. Amen.