Daily reflection _ He seeks greater faith

HE SEEKS GREATER FAITH
Jesus showing again that He is God-with-us in all our storms.
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
The world has seen its share of disasters this past year, both natural, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes, and man-made.
We also experience our own personal catastrophes: illnesses, deaths, losses of jobs and homes. Some of us even see the crumbling of families and relationships. There are plenty of storms to overcome throughout our lives, including the storm in today's Gospel. Yet once we start to trace the various ways the Bible uses the sea as an image of chaos, we also begin to understand that the storms that drench us and threaten to take us under aren't necessarily the ones found in a forecast on the Weather Channel. Rough seas and storms take many forms; like the ones mentioned at the beginning of my reflection. When we are swamped, our prayer might echo the disciples' plea, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" Like in the Gospel story with the disciples in the boat, Jesus again calms the chaos, and we then find ourselves safe in the arms of our heavenly Father. Jesus showing again that He is God-with- us in all our storms.
In our Responsorial Psalm we acclaim: O Lord, Your mercy is before my eyes, because we walk with you (Ps 26.) Jesus always works to bring His calm and peace in our life no matter what storms we face.
Out of destruction and death, God does amazing things!