Jesus got into a boat and 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, "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 Word in other words
How You could sleep in that boat, dear Jesus, in the midst of a raging storm at sea testifies not only to Your real humanness, to how tired You must really have been, but also to the eternal calm within You, which went with the confidence that the Father was with You all the time, and that You, after all the Lord of sea and sky.
I know from my own experience, that when my body is tired, after hours or days when I think I am superman who can go a long time sleepless, I just sleep through bells and alarms and knocks on doors- my body claiming its rest. That was how it must have been with You. Your companions, some of whom were fishermen supposedly used the moods of the sea, were terrified. But You, the Carpenter that You were, were sleeping unperturbed, much like how we envision You on Christmas Day, as we sing a lullaby to Baby You, "Sleep in heavenly peace." Only that this time though fully grown You still do sleep- in heavenly peace even as the sea was raging.
Roused from your sleep, You calm the wind and storm and sea while reminding Your companions that with You on board, they could have had a little more faith that nothing would go wrong.
It is tempting to that if I were on board that boat with You, I would have been a little more calm. But in truth, I doubt if I really would have been. Whether in literal or symbolic storms at sea or in life, I know I do get frightened when I think I am alone, forgetting that You love me, that You are in the boat with me, and that for as long as You are there, I am safe,
Today, dear Lord, please confirm me in my faith that I am loved. As I face a new day, make me confident that You are with me whatever I do, wherever I go- be this on stormy sea or smoothly-paved street. Let me only live so that just as You are with me, I shall always strive ever to be with You.
At the end of my day, may I enter the night equally confidently that You are still with me and will continue to be with me, ensuring that I, too, may "sleep in heavenly peace."
- Fr. Roderick C. Salazar, SVD (CKMS, Q.C)
