Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 6/20

Dear friends, this Sunday’s Gospel reading is the famous one of Jesus falling asleep in the boat while the disciples are freaking out as they see the huge waves sinking the boat.

Do you think Jesus knew the storm was coming when he decided to fall asleep in the boat? Imagine the boat is your soul, the storm are difficult situations in life and the waves are intense emotions may overwhelm us sometimes. Why do you think Jesus may fall asleep and leave “by yourself” sometimes? If He is the  Lord of the universe, why is He doing this, why is He letting you suffer storms? Does He want us to drown?

We know that all is for our good, storms can be a huge blessing when we realize He is there, calmed and relaxed in our boat. The Lord Jesus knows that the press of troubles are coming and he allows them to shake us. But how are we interpreting these situations, what are we doing with those intense emotions?

Emotions are a gift from God and they are meant to carry us to God, not away from Him. After the original sin they started carrying us all over the place. Now Jesus is in the center of your soul and says “why don’t you bring those emotions to me? I gave them to you. Don’t repress them, don’t run away from them”.

Just as in this episode, He will raise and with a confident and calm voice will help us face the inner emotional storm. Let’s bring our emotions to Jesus daily, frequently. The Lord will help us take a deep breath and take some distance from the stormy motions of our wounded soul. With Jesus, our press of troubles doesn’t mean oppression, doesn’t mean drowning, but can signify a new peace through a deeper communion with Him. He is our Peace.

Fr. Remi Morales, SCV