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Matthew 8: 23-27
As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea,
so that the boat was being swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
They came and woke him, saying,
“Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this,
whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s a riddle we all learned as children:
“Why did the chicken cross the road?”
“To get to the other side.”
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It seems stunning in its simplicity, yet it’s the same dynamic we see at work in today’s Gospel.
Why did Jesus tell his disciples to get into the boat?
To get to the other side. They don’t know this yet, but once they land, Jesus will preach the Gospel to the Gentiles for the very first time. It will not be an easy task, so they all should rest up.
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But instead of conserving his energy for the morning, Peter frets over the storm they’re caught in – so much so that he awakens a sleeping Jesus.
“Lord, save us! We are perishing!” he says. In Mark’s account, Peter goes so far as to ask incredulously, “Do you not care that we are drowning?”
Frustrated, the Lord wakes up, rubs his eyes, and calms the storm. Then asks Peter his own question: “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
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I’m sure we’ve all felt like Peter before. We’ve had that sinking feeling like we’re going to drown – not necessarily in water, but in debt, temptation, fear, anxiety, or stress.
In those moments, we can expend a tremendous amount of energy unnecessarily, as we dwell on the sea, the wind, and the waves surrounding us.
But if we use this Gospel as a model for faith, then the invitation is not to panic, but to rest. Curl up next to a sleeping Jesus, “whom even the winds and the sea obey.”
Save your energy for the real task at hand – whatever God has in store for you once you reach the other side.
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Image credits: (1) Thinking Faith Network (2) The Storm at Sea, Rembrandt (3) Freepik