Jesuit Thought for the Day, and Prayer [Spirituality & Religion]
Mk 4: 35-41
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Calming the storms
Have you ever been out on a lake or river as a storm gathers force? Even as you head towards shore there is this down-in-the-gut terror that “we won’t make it.” It’s that gnawing fear that I can’t manage what’s happening, the awareness that “this is more than I can handle.” So what do I do in the face of such challenging life events?
This is exactly why taking daily steps to build a rock solid relationship with Jesus is so important. And this is why Jesus’ quiet daily invitation to “come and see” pays off. Each of us will certainly encounter the storms of life and its daily relationships. So can I come to trust that, by handing my life and time and daily experience over to Jesus, there is no storm that the two of us can’t handle together.
Prayer
While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I´m clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?
—Excerpt from text of “How Can I Keep from Singing”
Copyright � 2020
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Calming the storms
Have you ever been out on a lake or river as a storm gathers force? Even as you head towards shore there is this down-in-the-gut terror that “we won’t make it.” It’s that gnawing fear that I can’t manage what’s happening, the awareness that “this is more than I can handle.” So what do I do in the face of such challenging life events?
This is exactly why taking daily steps to build a rock solid relationship with Jesus is so important. And this is why Jesus’ quiet daily invitation to “come and see” pays off. Each of us will certainly encounter the storms of life and its daily relationships. So can I come to trust that, by handing my life and time and daily experience over to Jesus, there is no storm that the two of us can’t handle together.
Prayer
While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I´m clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?
—Excerpt from text of “How Can I Keep from Singing”
Copyright � 2020
22-25, F
