THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Tuesday of 13^th Week in Ordinary Time, 2022

Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12

Ps 5

Matt 3:23-27

Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop, and Martyr

Lord save us

Some people are very light sleepers. They wake up at the slightest sound. Others care soundly. Most of us would probably be woken by a bad storm, especially if there was thunder and lightning involved. It is even more likely that our sleep would be disturbed in a storm if we were on a reasonably large ship at sea. If we were in a small boat and a storm broke over us we would certainly be wide awake. 

In this morning’s gospel reading (Mt 8:23-27), Jesus is portrayed as asleep in that situation. He was in a small fishing boat in the midst of a storm with the waves breaking into the boat, and, yet, he was asleep. The disciples reacted more as we all would. Not only were they awake, but they were in a state of panic, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’ The evangelist is depicting Jesus as at peace in the storm, suggesting that such was his trust in God his Father’s providential care that the storm did not trouble him. The disciples lacked that trust in God; Jesus rebuked them as ‘men of little faith. Jesus was like that house he spoke about that was battered by a storm but did not collapse because it was built on rock. 

Jesus’ life was built on God and so he was secure even in the heart of life’s storms. We are all called to share in Jesus’ relationship with God. We can call God ‘Abba, Father’, as Jesus did. Like Jesus, we too can know the peace and security which that relationship gives us, even when the storms of life threaten to engulf us.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, increase my faith in your redeeming love and power so that I may always recognize your abiding presence with me. Amen.

+Remian blessed