Christmas Day

 

Readings for Mass During the Day:
Isaiah 52:7-10
Ps 98:1-6
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Joy to the world! This is our song. This is what we should always be proclaiming as a people of faith.

Don't focus on what destroys your joy, for nothing can destroy the coming of the Lord. The absence of joy is merely a blank area in your view of what God is doing.

Look at the love that Jesus has for you! Jesus was born not only to save you from the darkness of sin; he was born because he loves you -- he loves YOU! Even if you had never sinned, he would have come into the world so that he could love YOU on your level, human-to-human.

Sometimes, great things come in surprising packages that do not seem to be great at all. The Eucharist -- in the form of a little wafer of bread -- does not look like it contains the full presence of Jesus with all of his humanity and his divinity. The baby Jesus -- a tiny, helpless child -- does not look like the conqueror of evil. But he is! And so is Jesus in the Eucharist; he is here for you.

And you! You might not seem to be a great person, but you contain Jesus. You contain greatness beyond imagining! This greatness does not dwell only in you; it comes out from you in every good thing that you do. This is a life of faith!

To be a follower of Jesus means we learn to imitate him. In doing good, evil is defeated. In this goodness, the greatness of Jesus extends outward from us. In this goodness, there is cause for great joy.

https://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/

What's your lifeless desert?

 

We all need God's help to stay on the highway that's called the holy way.

As we nurture our spiritual lives to grow closer to Christ this Advent and Season of Christmas, we can use today's first reading to see what still needs healing or repentance:

1. How is your life like a desert, dry and lifeless except for a few prickly cactuses?

2. Are you thirsty for more of God? In what area of your life do you feel parched?

3. Are you feeble in your attempts to become more like Jesus?

4. Are your knees weak as you travel the difficult road of holy living?

5. Are you controlled and paralyzed by fear? Any fear -- even the smallest one -- paralyzes us from moving ahead into the life that God wants for us.

6. How are you blind? Are you unable to see the good that's coming from a bad situation or the hand of God working in your life or in the life of someone who's causing you to worry? Are you blind to the presence of Jesus in others because he's hidden under the garbage of their sins? Are you blind to how very, very much God loves you and wants to help you?

7. What has God been telling you that you can't hear? Maybe it's his guidance? Or his love song that he sings to you? Or his dreams for you?

8. What part of your journey toward heaven is too difficult for you? What lame excuses are you using for permission to sit down on the curb?

9. How has fear kept your tongue silent when you should be speaking up? Or what have you been saying that's so unlike Jesus that you sound horrible instead of singing of God's glory?

10. In what areas of your life are the jackals who tempt you still lurking, keeping you in sin?

11. In what ways do you act foolishly? What the world considers wise the Lord knows to be foolish. What worldly wisdom are you trusting?

12. How are you like a lion? Is there anyone you've been devouring with unkind words or impatience or contempt or bullying?

Well, the Good News is, as Isaiah points out: The Lord has ransomed us! We can escape from these faith-destroying maladies.

Today's Gospel passage shows us that Jesus was overflowing with God's power so that he could minister to people. He wants to minister to you, too. We all need this help to stay on the highway that's called the holy way. It's Jesus who strengthens the hands that are feeble and the knees that are weak.

We are like the paralytic who allowed his friends to lower him to Jesus for a healing. He had faith in his friends' love for him. If we allow our own Christian friends to help us, our faith in their love increases our faith in the loving power of Christ.

That's when Jesus says to us, "My friend, you are forgiven." With that Word, we are healed. With that Word, all the good things that Isaiah prophesied are becoming true for us.

Today's Prayer:

Praised be to You, Lord, because Your love wants to work wonders through our faith in You. Thank You for Your merciful power that restores us in body, soul and spirit. Amen.

https://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/

Trust and follow me

 

Daily Wisdom

(PHOTO: LAURENCE FREEMAN, FRANCE) Jesus’s teaching on this question of finding oneself doesn’t put it just in terms of finding oneself but in following him. This puts a different spin on it. To follow him means what? Say you are driving in two cars somewhere and the first car knows where he is going, you don’t. So they’ll say ‘Just follow me.’ What does that mean? It means there’s trust, trust that they know where they are going. It also means you have to be very careful that you don’t lose the other person, you have to make sure that another car doesn’t come in between you and the car you are following. It’s a small example of what it might mean to follow: to pay attention, to be faithful, to stay connected, to keep going in the spirit of trust or faith. And it means to take the attention off ourselves: ‘Whoever wants to follow me must deny himself’. It sounds very negative, but we can see it in a better light if we see it in the light of meditation – taking the attention off ourselves. That is what it means to leave self behind. (Finding Oneself 1 by Laurence Freeman OSB ) https://mailchi.mp/wccm/daily-wisdom-388661?e=e0e956b448

Meditation

 

11/10/2020

Photo by Jorge Luis Ojeda Flota on Unsplash Letter 29: Integration of two ways of being Laurence Freeman in his book Jesus, the Teacher Within states: “The Kingdom is freedom from all inner and outer domination: ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God’. It is the power of God flowing freely in every human dimension both social and personal. It is the fulfilment of the individual both as a unique individual and as a part of the whole that is indivisible from all other individuals. It is the end of the tragedies of alienation and isolation, the two most powerful causes of suffering and of human inhumanity.” We may well feel on reading this, that this is a state only saints can experience, not one accessible for you and me. And yet, as we will see, when we were very young, we did still live in that state. God has given us all we need for our existence on this earth, not only to survive but also to connect back to the Divine we came from. Our brain is a beautiful instrument for doing this, for tuning into different levels of consciousness, the various realities that surround us. Dr Shanida Nataraja in her book ‘The Blissful Brain’explains that there are two halves to our brain and she describes their functions as follows: “The left brain has a centre – the ego - that interprets the sense impressions, emotional and intellectual stimuli, coming from the outside world, and uses language, logic and analytical abilities to make sense of it. Its main objective is to protect us from anything that may interfere with our ability to survive in this world as a single individual. It will totally ignore anything that does not fit into this survival matrix. The right brain too has a centre – the self - that sees the global picture, as it is the overarching consciousness that includes the ego. It sees the individual in the context of the totally interconnected whole, including all of humanity and creation - all of it embraced by the Divine. It too has senses, the interior senses of intuition and creative imagination. Because of its all-encompassing view, which includes the emotions, the right brain adds to the picture the ego paints empathy, compassion, care for the survival of others and creation - it is the source of our spiritual being and our connection to the Divine.” That we have the innate capacity to link back to our Source is proved by neuro-science brain wave research. It has shown that children under two years of age still live mainly in their right brain, as shown by the dominant presence of alpha waves; hence the empathy, the love, the compassion and the vivid creative imagination that characterizes a child. Therefore a very young child is still undivided, in touch with the whole, still connected to God, still lives in the Kingdom. In ordinary adult consciousness beta waves of left brain activity dominate; we all experience this as the constant whirl of thoughts that occupy our minds. The switch over from the right brain’s to the left brain’s view of the world gradually happens between the ages of two and five; from then on society and education emphasize the left brain way of being and the right brain view is not encouraged. This connection, however, is never severed but just disconnected to various degrees. Yet we have the potential to switch it back on, as it is a natural divinely given part of our human nature. In fact it is something Jesus encourages us to do: “Unless you turn round and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”(Matthew 18,3) Shanida also highlights the role meditation plays in this re-connection with our wider consciousness: meditation through its one-pointed attention on the mantra switches us from a left brain way of being to a right brain way of being. For some of us the switch has become rather rusty over time, but for children the access remains easy; hence they take to meditation as ducks to water. Of course we need to be able to look after our own survival as well as that of others. We need both sides of our brain; they may be different but they are definitely complementary. Their co-operation is essential to our well-being, our sense of harmony and balance. It adds the meaning to life, which is often sadly lacking when we live entirely from our left brain. Here too meditation helps: it encourages an increase in connectivity between both halves of the brain. In doing so it facilitates the ease of switching from one mode of being into the other. Just by repeating our word lovingly and faithfully we end “the tragedies of alienation and isolation” and allow our entry into the Kingdom. Kim Nataraja * From The Weekly Teachings archive, Year 3 Letter 29

https://mailchi.mp/wccm/wccm-weekly-teachings-388389?e=e0e956b448

When Your Plans and God’s Plans Don’t Match

 “My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like my ways.”

Isaiah 55:8 (NCV)

Life is full of interruptions. Sometimes we have big plans—for a career, family, or ministry—but God takes our lives in a different direction.

When our plans and God’s plans don’t match up, we often try to kick down the door. Then things get worse.

Just ask Jonah. He learned the hard way how to respond when God’s plans and his plans didn’t match. God told Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh that they needed to repent from their evil ways. But Jonah ran from God and ended up in the belly of a big fish, so God had to rescue him.

Jonah then did what God had said to do, but when the people of Nineveh repented and God didn’t punish them, the prophet was extremely disappointed.

So God gave Jonah an object lesson. God caused a plant to grow large enough to give Jonah shade. Then he sent a worm to attack the plant and kill it. The next day, as the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, he expressed his frustration to God.

And that’s when God reminded Jonah of four truths to remember when God’s plans differ from ours.

God can see things you can’t. He can see the past and the present and the future all at the same time. He created time, so he is not subject to time.

God is good to you even when you’re cranky. You may have been going the opposite direction from God, and he still covers you with shade. God cares about your comfort because that’s the kind of God he is. He loves you even when you’re unlovable.

God is in control of every detail of your life. Your plans don’t fail randomly. God has a purpose in everything in your life. Jonah shows us that God uses both the big (a large fish) and the small (a worm) to direct our lives, but he is in control of it all. 

God wants you to focus on what will last. Most of what worries you won’t be around tomorrow. God wanted Jonah to care about the salvation of the people of Nineveh, not a plant that would die the next day. Above all else, focus on getting God’s Word into your heart and bringing people into his family.

Just because your plans aren’t turning out the way you want doesn’t mean God isn’t intimately involved in every step. Ask God to help you see his hand in your broken plans, and trust him in his goodness as he shows you the way forward.

https://pastorrick.com/when-your-plans-and-gods-plans-dont-match/?vgo_ee=%2BJ%2BTBckOM5q5cj26yfWRLjpxdzkQNl9LgdxZ9pnzLRY%3D

Spiritual vs. Material Wealth

“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”  Mark 12:43-44 All she put into the basket was two small coins worth only a few cents.  Yet Jesus declares that she put in more than all the rest.  Are you buying that?  It’s hard to accept that it’s true.  Our tendency is to think of the monetary value of the large sums of money being deposited before this poor widow’s.  Those deposits are far more desirable than the two small coins she put in.  Right?  Or not? If we take Jesus at His word then we should be far more grateful for the widow’s two coins than the large sums of money deposited before her.  That’s not to say that the large sums of money were not good and generous gifts.  They most likely were.  God took those gifts also and used them.  But here Jesus is highlighting a contrast between spiritual wealth and material wealth.  And He’s saying that spiritual wealth, and spiritual generosity, is of far greater importance than material wealth, and material generosity.  The poor widow was materially poor but spiritually rich.  Those with the large sums of money were materially rich, but spiritually poorer than the widow.  In the materialistic society we live in, it’s hard to believe this.  It’s very hard to make the conscious choice to embrace spiritual wealth as a far greater blessing.  Why is this hard?  Because in order to embrace spiritual wealth one must give up everything.  We must all become this poor widow and contribute all we have, our “whole livelihood.”  Now, some may immediately react to this statement as extreme.  It’s not extreme.  There is nothing wrong with being blessed with material wealth, but there is something wrong with being attached to it.  What is essential is an interior disposition which imitates the generosity and spiritual poverty of this poor widow.  She wanted to give and she wanted to make a difference.  So she gave all she had. Each person must discern how this looks practically in their lives.  This doesn’t mean that everyone must literally sell all they have and go become a monk.  But it does mean that everyone must have an interior disposition of complete generosity and detachment.  From there, the Lord will show you how to use the material things within your possession for your greatest good, as well as the good of others. Reflect, today, upon the contrast of these two forms of wealth and choose that which lasts for eternity.  Give all you have and all you are to our Lord and allow Him to direct the generosity of your heart in accord with His perfect will. Lord, please give me the generous and selfless heart of this poor widow.  Help me to look for ways that I am called to give completely of myself to You, holding nothing back, seeking above all the spiritual riches of Your Kingdom.  Jesus, I trust in You. https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2020/06/05/spiritual-vs-material-wealth-2/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=catholic-daily-reflections-my-catholic-life_2596

Avoidance of Sin

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.”  Matthew 5:29-30a Does Jesus really mean this?  Literally?  We can be certain that this language, which is shocking, is not a literal command but is rather a symbolic statement commanding us to avoid sin with great zeal, and to avoid all that leads us to sin.  The eye can be understood as a window to our soul where our thoughts and desires reside.  The hand can be seen as a symbol of our actions.  Thus, we must eliminate every thought, affection, desire and action that leads us to sin. The true key to understanding this passage is to allow ourselves to be affected by the powerful language that Jesus uses.  He does not hesitate to speak in a shocking way so as to reveal to us the calling we have to confront with much zeal that which leads to sin in our lives.  “Pluck it out…cut it off,” He says.  In other words, eliminate your sin and all that leads you to sin in a definitive way.  The eye and the hand are not sinful in and of themselves; rather, in this symbolic language they are spoken of as those things that lead to sin.  Therefore, if certain thoughts or certain actions lead you to sin, these are the areas to target and to eliminate. Regarding our thoughts, sometimes we can allow ourselves to dwell excessively upon this or that.  As a result, these thoughts can lead us to sin.  The key is to “pluck out” that initial thought that produces the bad fruit. Regarding our actions, we can at times put ourselves in situations that tempt us and lead to sin.  These occasions of sin must be cut off from our lives. Reflect, today, upon this very direct and powerful language of our Lord.  Let the forcefulness of His words be an impetus for change and avoidance of all sin. Lord, I am sorry for my sin and I ask for Your mercy and forgiveness.  Please help me to avoid all that leads me to sin and to surrender all my thoughts and actions to You every day.  Jesus, I trust in You. https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2020/06/11/avoidance-of-sin-2/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=catholic-daily-reflections-my-catholic-life_2596

Four Types of People You Need in Your Life

“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”

Proverbs 13:20 (NIV)

You and I can never be the kind of people God wants us to be on our own. We were never intended to do life that way. We all need people who are teaching us, sharing their lives with us, investing in us, and encouraging us to grow.

The Bible tells us, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm” (Proverbs 13:20 NIV).

In fact, to be all that God calls you to be, you need to learn from at least four kinds of people:

Mentors. These are your coaches. I’ve had nine different mentors in my life. No one can teach you everything you need to know. One person will teach you in one area. Another person will teach you about something else.

Role models. These are people who are already doing or have already done what you want to do. Many of the skills you’ve learned in your life, you’ve learned by watching others.

Partners. You need co-workers and colleagues who are in your profession, people to support and challenge you on what God wants to do through your life.

Friends. Friends don’t necessarily help you with your goals. They’re just friends. They love you no matter what you do. You can mess up, and they still love you. A friend walks alongside you when everyone else walks out. That’s when you know who your true friends are.

Trying to live life solo isn’t just lonely. It works against God’s design for us.

Find your people, and make yourself available and vulnerable to them and how God wants to use them in your life.

https://pastorrick.com/four-types-of-people-you-need-in-your-life-2/?roi=echo7-37359118415-55595424-a729d2326e18fb43c59680b4fe8a15b8

The stone rejected will becone the cornerstone

The stone rejected will becone the cornerstone by frtonys The parable in today’s gospel is a tragic one, about rejection, violence and murder. A vineyard owner sent his servants to collect his share of the fruits of the vineyard; all of them were rejected. He then sent his son who was not only rejected but killed. At the end of the story, the stone rejected by the builders goes on to become the keystone, the most important stone that holds the arch together. The parable is a veiled reference to what had happened to the prophets in the past and what would soon happen to Jesus himself. His mission would lead to him being rejected and put to death, but God would raise him from the dead and make him the keystone of a wholly new situation for mankind. Rejection is a painful human experience, experienced by many. Jesus invites us to join our times of sadness and rejection to his passion. He is the living sign that the rejected stone can become the keystone. God can work in a life-giving way in and through all any hardships we struggle with in life. What we might judge to be misfortunes can turn out to be moments of grace. He will support us to the end with all we need. https://cacina.wordpress.com/2020/06/01/the-stone-rejected-will-becone-the-cornerstone/

Jesus said to Peter what concern is it of yours

In today’ Gospel, we see Jesus’ gently correcting Peter, who seemed more interested in John’s fate than in following Jesus at that moment. This is a lesson for all of us.  We all need to get our own lives in order before being preoccupied with the concerns of others. We want to make sure that we are being treated fairly and equally, or if there is any inequality, we expect it to be in our favor, not the other person. We also tend to compare our lives to others either to legitimize our commitment to Christ or to question the justice of God. So, Jesus tells us today not to preoccupy ourselves with things or issues that are beyond our mandate. We are not to condemn anybody because that’s not our work but God’s work on the last day. Our mandate is to go to the whole world preaching the Good News and bringing souls closer to God. Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for Your call to serve You. We pray that You help us avoid straying away from our call to serve You. Help us not judge others but bring them closer to You. Amen. https://cacina.wordpress.com/2020/05/30/jesus-said-to-peter-what-concern-is-it-of-yours/

Baptized in the Holy Spirit

Come experience a Baptism of Renewal and be Born Again. Pentecost was not just for those of the bible.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says,

According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into communion with Christ’s death, is buried with him, and rises with him: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:3-4) The baptized have “put on Christ.” (Gal 3:27) Through the Holy Spirit, Baptism is a bath that purifies, justifies, and sanctifies (1 Cor 6:11). Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the “imperishable seed” of the Word of God produces its life-giving effect. (CCC 1227-1228)

This quote from the Catechism then moves us beyond the merely Theological answer to the question, “What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?”  and opens also, the “experiential” question: What is it “like” to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?

Experientially, It means knowing what we have received in Baptism and Confirmation. But here, “knowing” does not mean mere intellectual knowing (οἴδα – odia in the Greek New Testament). Rather it means experiential knowing (γινώσκo – ginosko in the Greek New Testament). It is one thing to “know about” God and to be able to pass a religion test. But to be Baptized with the Holy Spirit is to “know” the Lord, personally, deeply, intimately. It is to be in a life changing, transformative relationship with the Lord. It is experiential faith.

Too many people are satisfied with with living their faith by inference, rather than by experience. In other words, they are content to go along saying what they heard some one else say. “Jesus is Lord and risen from the dead” because my mother says so, or my preacher says so, (or even), the Bible says so. All of this is fine, for faith first comes by hearing. But there comes a point when YOU have to say so, because you personally know it to be true.

And this is what it means to be Baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. It is to be able to say, “In the laboratory of my own life I have tested the Word of God and found it to be true. I have personally met and know the Lord, I know Him for myself.”

In other words, it is having faith come alive! Faith that is real, tested and certain. It is knowledge that is personal. It is to be a first hand witness to the power of Jesus Christ to change my life, for I am experiencing it in the laboratory of my very own life. He is changing and transforming me. I am seeing sins put to death and wonderful graces come alive. I am more serene, confident, loving, generous and chaste. I am more forgiving, patient, trusting and patient. I love the poor more, and I am less attached to this world. My prayer is becoming deeper as I sense his presence and power in my life. Yes, God is working in my life and He is real. This is my testimony. What is yours?

But this is what it means, experientially, to be baptized with the Holy Spirit (and with fire).

And this is also at the heart of evangelization. How are you going to convert anybody if you’re not convinced yourself? Parents, you want your kids to go to Church? Great, and proper. But why do you go? Because it’s Church law? Alright, fine, but shouldn’t there be a deeper reason? To be Baptized with the Holy Spirit is to go to Mass and make the Christian walk because you know and love Jesus Christ yourself, and you want to bring your children into that living, powerful and life transforming experience of the Lord in prayer, the Mass, the Liturgy, and the Sacraments. That’s what you’re after. And that’s what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Pay attention to these word of St. John the Baptist. He, through the Holy Spirit, is teaching us about the “normal Christian life,” which is to be alive, joyful, confident, serene and thrilled at what God is doing in my life, at to know (not just know about) the Lord. “I baptize you with water, BUT HE, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” And he will light a fire in your life, a fire that never dies away, but that grows in intensity as it transforms your very self.

Let he who has ears to hear, heed what the Spirit is saying. Baptism is not a tedious ritual, it is a transformative reality.

https://cacina.wordpress.com/2020/05/27/baptized-in-the-holy-spirit/

The sacrament of love

Acts 22:30; 23:6-11
Ps 16:1-2a, 5, 7-11
John 17:20-26
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052820.cfm

The prayer of Jesus in today's Gospel reading can be applied to any relationship: any two people, any community. Whatever God has joined is sacred. It's sacred because it's a reflection of who God is and how much he loves. This is why marriage is meant to be a sacrament instead of just a civil bond or the incomplete bond of living together like a marriage without the vows.

Lack of commitment and unhealed wounds in any divinely-inspired relationship give the world a sick and faulty image of Christ.

And so Jesus prays: "May they be one, Father. As you are in me and I in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." Relationships that survive divisive troubles are a visual lesson about God's unconditional love, which is faithful always, in better times and in the worst of times, in sickness and in health, whether we're rich or poor, sinning or pure, all the time, no matter what.

In a Christian marriage, the husband lays down his life to serve his wife, and the wife lays down her life to serve her husband, and Jesus lays down his life for both of them. Marriage is a reflection of the Father's only Son sacrificing his life for his Bride (which is us, i.e., the Church), and the Bride laying down her life (i.e., our lives) to serve Jesus.

The persistent love that spouses and friends and community members have for each other, which never quits no matter what, unites them to the fullness of God's love. In God, they have the power and the way to overcome whatever threatens to divide them. (I've been married to Ralph since 1975; I have experienced the truth of this personally.) If both husband and wife desire to be partners with God in love, they bind themselves to the One who is totally and permanently committed to making it work, and no matter what problems arise, God provides the answers, the healing, and the growth that make the marriage stronger, even when one spouse does not work as hard at it as the other.

By having sacred relationships, we fulfill our calling -- the vocation of the "common priesthood" that we all have -- to bring Christ to the world. We spread the Good News by showing others that, with the help of God, love never ends and it's available to all who want it.

What happens to the Sacrament of Marriage when one of the spouses refuses to live sacramentally? Or when one of them dies? Or when a divorced person realizes too late the mistakes and sins they have made? Jesus steps in and becomes their True Spouse. For the person who desires sacramental unity, he is the Sacrament.

(For a Good News WordByte that's a love-letter from God to singles, go to gnm.org/prayers-be-satisfied-with-me/)

In broken relationships, we should lift up the other person to God in prayer to supernaturally create opportunities for a change of spirit and heart.

Each God-ordained relationship is meant to be a gift of love to the world; we are called to be the presence of Christ for the world to see. How terribly wrong, how anti-evangelization it is to neglect or break this gift. May the prayer of Jesus heal our brokenness. Amen!

https://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2020-05-28

Can you find Peace in a Pandemic?

"It's getting late . . . ."

           "You should go home and take care of your family . . . ."

           "Jesus is tired and needs to rest . . . ."

The friends of Jesus, also known as his disciples, had spread themselves out among the huge group of people who had gathered throughout the day to listen to Jesus tell stories and teach about the Kingdom of God. Just as some people were finally leaving, others would come, take their place in the crowd. It seemed that everyone wanted to hear what Jesus had to say. The disciples had quite a difficult task, trying to convince everyone that it was time to go home!

           "Hey, Peter! Have you seen Jesus?" John called out as the last person was walking away.

           "I think He already went to the boat," Peter yelled back.

Sure enough, when the disciples got to the little boat, they found that Jesus was already there, waiting for them.

          "Will you fellows please take me to the other side of the lake?" Jesus asked politely. The disciples were eager to please Jesus. They raised the sails, lifted the anchor, and were soon sailing toward the middle of the lake.

Suddenly, without warning, the wind started howling, whipping the large sails about as if they were feathers. The waves rose higher and higher, sloshing over the sides of the boat. The boat, heaving heavily from side to side, was hopelessly uncontrollable. It was all they could do to hold on.

James glanced around to see if everyone was still on the boat, hoping no one had fallen overboard. "WHERE IS JESUS?" he yelled above the roar of the wind.

           Peter yelled back, "HE'S HERE IN THE BACK OF THE BOAT! CAN YOU BELIEVE HE IS SLEEPING THROUGH ALL OF THIS?"

           The disciples were getting more and more fearful because of the storm. Water was quickly filling the vessel, and there was nothing they could do about it. There was no doubt in their minds that they were all going to die.

One of the disciples started shaking Jesus trying to awaken him, screaming loudly to be heard. "JESUS . . . JESUS! GET UP! HOW CAN YOU SLEEP THROUGH THIS STORM? DON'T YOU CARE IF WE ALL DIE? PLEASE GET UP AND HELP US!"

           Jesus calmly and peacefully got up from his nap. He stood up in the boat, which was being tossed around uncontrollably, and spoke to the wind . . . and then He spoke to the lake simply saying, "Peace, be still!"

           At that very instant:

The wind stopped howling . . .

                 The waves stopped rolling . . .

                 The boat stopped tossing . . .

           All was calm, still, and peaceful out on the lake.

           The disciples were still trembling with fear and still holding on for dear life. They hadn't even realized the storm had stopped. Jesus turned to them and said gently, "Why are you so fearful? How could you spend so much time with Me and yet have so little faith that I would take care of you?"

The disciples, realizing that the storm was over, loosened their grip just a bit and timidly stood up. They looked at one another in amazement. "Can you believe what just happened?" one of them asked.

           "What kind of man is this?" another one wondered.

           "Even the wind and the waves obey him!" a third one exclaimed.

          "It was absolutely incredible!" they all agreed.

           After all their wonder and amazement subsided just a bit, they got busy with the hard tasks of bailing the water out of their boat and repairing the sails so they could continue the rest of the way across the lake where, unknown to them, another great miracle was waiting to take place.

https://cacina.wordpress.com/2020/05/15/can-you-find-peace-in-a-pandemic/