THE WORD
Am 3,1-8; 4,11-12 / Mt 8,23-27
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. ey 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?”
IN OTHER WORDS
A typical bad-day moment. I went home with a heavy heart one late afternoon owing to problems in the chaplaincy work and anxiety over requirements and exams. I made a visit to the chapel
where at first, my mind was all a mess and I felt like an embodied but restless soul on the pew.
Just when I was about to leave the pew, the chapel door opened and in came my confreres: a student, one of the superiors, and another confrere whom I knew had just recovered from an illness.
In no time, there was a cohort of quiet and praying SVDs – each coming from various places and circumstances in the Lord’s vineyard. It felt like we were all in the same boat with the same yell: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
Storms causing fears and doubts come in life and we simply have to survive. It is not easy to trust in the Lord when one faces a terrible problem or is going through a suffering. In the art of surviving the storm, it is easy to lose heart. However, it is the same storm that can also invoke in us the great reserves of faith waiting to be unleashed and bring back the images of this gospel event. It is the same trial that can echo the words, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” and we get to know again the only One who can rebuke the winds and the sea. I pray that as we read the gospel and continue to hold on to him, we will experience the great calm that we will soon experience in His perfect timing.
- Fr. Ferdinand Bajao, SVD | Rome, Italy
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
