13OT, Do Not Be Afraid, 2024
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/063020.cfm
It was four years ago that the world watched through livestream, Pope Francis standing in a totally empty St. Peter’s Square on a rainy day and delivering an extraordinary blessing and prayer to end the coronavirus. He used our gospel story today of Jesus in the boat calming the stormy seas to deliver his heartfelt, simple, and challenging message.
In his remarks, Pope Francis stated that what was hard to understand in this story is Jesus’ attitude. “While his disciples are quite naturally alarmed and desperate, he (Jesus) stands in the stern, in the part of the boat that sinks first. And what does he do? In spite of the tempest, he sleeps on soundly, trusting in the Father.”
We must give the apostles some credit for the little faith they had; after all, they did follow him into the boat. But then they panicked when the storm came, and they woke Jesus up. He responds by admonishing them for being afraid. Then, out of his loving concern, calms the wind and sea for them. There was no shipwreck; Jesus brought calm, and the apostles were in awe.
Even though the apostles woke Jesus up, perhaps it was Jesus who was trying to wake the apostles up to his abiding presence with them. Maybe today’s gospel message is reminding us to wake up the presence of Jesus in our hearts and in the situations in our lives. He is always with us, but do we acknowledge his presence? How often do we call upon him in our daily life? If we did, perhaps we’d be less fearful and more trusting. Awakening Jesus presence in our lives has the effect of making our faith grow and giving us a new assurance that Jesus can calm whatever storm we face.
Our storms and the storms of our world are very unpredictable and scary. How do we respond as Catholic Christians? Would Jesus say to us: “O you of little faith”? Ultimately, we do what we can and what is expected of us given our values and principles. At the same time, we know we are a people of faith and that our lives are in God’s hands.
On that rainy day in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis finished his message with this sincere and challenging prayer: “Lord, may you bless the world, give health to our bodies and comfort to our hearts. You ask us not to be afraid. Yet our faith is weak, and we are fearful. But you, Lord, will not leave us at the mercy of the storm. Tell us again: “Do not be afraid.” Amen.
