Bishop Robert Barron June 28,2022 Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr Gospel: Mt 8: 8:23-27 As Jesus got into a boat, his disci...
June 28,2022
Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr
Gospel: Mt 8: 8:23-27
As Jesus got into a boat, 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, 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?”
*United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, in this wonderful story of the calming of the storm at sea, we witness some of the spiritual dynamics of fear and trust. The disciples stand symbolically for all of us journeying through life within the narrow confines of the fearful ego.
When they confront the storm and the mighty waves, they are immediately filled with terror. Similarly, when the trials and anxieties of life confront the ego, the first reaction is fear, since there is no power beyond itself upon which it can rely. In the midst of this terrible storm, this inner and outer tension, Jesus symbolizes that divine energy that remains unaffected by the fear-storms generated by the grasping ego.
Continuing to read the story at a spiritual level, we see that it is none other than this divine power that successfully calms the waves: he “rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.” This beautiful narrative seems to suggest that if we but awaken to the presence of God within us, if we learn to live and to see at a deeper level, if we live in basic trust rather than fear, then we can withstand even the most frightening storms.
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