Trust and be in the truth

Read Time:6 Minute, 16 Second

Consideration for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year B1

He was asleep. The storm was raging all around, the boat swayed sharply and the waves were breaking in; they were all mad out of fear, and He was asleep. Neither the storm, nor the roar of the waves, nor the whirlwind, nor even the water, which splashed powerfully and undoubtedly splashed on him, woke him up. He must have been dead tired. From the morning he stood in the boat so that the crowd on the shore could hear him better, and he taught all day until evening. In the evening he almost escaped from this crowd – he didn’t even get out; he asked them to swim to the other side, away from the crowd. And he fell asleep immediately. A storm surprised them in the middle of the lake, in the depths, far from both shore. Death looked into their eyes. And He was asleep. They must have had to tug him hard to wake him up. “You don’t care?” – they ask awake. It is not very clear whether they expected him to help pouring the water out of the boat, or they simply could not bear that he alone was sleeping in such a dramatic moment. It surprised them, amazed and even terrified them, how easily, in a word, they had mastered the element …

And He, having calmed the storm, reproaches them for their lack of faith. Why? They couldn’t have foreseen a miracle! He may have exaggerated with this faith, but with their own eyes they saw him command the elements and obeyed him! WHO IS HE?

They know the Scriptures, they know that only God is in control of the elements. Only He brings out of the abyss and calms the raging winds. Only he limits the waters. No one else. So who is the One who they just couldn’t wake up in spite of the storm, and now shows such POWER? Really? Only now did the incredible, terrifying abyss of this Man’s Mystery open to them.

But in the end, although they were shocked by the miracle, it was probably good that they woke Him up. The lake calmed down and they were safe. And that was it, wasn’t it?

Oh yeah. Of course, it was about rescue; of course they could die. Of course, He prevented the tragedy. So where is the lack of faith? Perhaps in that they did not see His Mystery; that they only considered Him a human being. That despite the signs they saw, the Word they heard, they did not open up to who He is. For if the signs and words opened their hearts and minds, they would not even have to wake him up to trust that he would save them, and if they woke them up, they would trust him, and not invent their own means of rescue. If they believed and trusted Him, they would not be afraid at all.

So there were two reasons for fear: not believing that Jesus is more than human and not believing that although he is asleep, he is present.

We are two millennia wiser and we know what happened next: that Jesus died and rose again, that he IS God. Although, of course, this knowledge, which comes from the Gospel, does not always convince us to believe … There are doubts. And then we are afraid. Especially during painful experiences, suffering, and danger. But even if we believe the Scriptures, we believe God’s omnipotence, and we believe that Jesus is God, we may, in the extreme situation, ask ourselves: wake Him or let Him sleep? Otherwise: whether to recognize that, as God, he does not need sleep so much and you can wake Him up, because the situation requires it, or take pity on His human fatigue (after all, the Risen One is still a man), and at the same time believe that His mere presence is enough, though asleep and take it upon myself to get through the drama?

I cannot help but quote St. Teresa of the Child Jesus: “My soul seemed to me like a weak canoe which, due to the lack of a helmsman, is at the mercy of stormy waves … I knew that Jesus was sleeping in my boat, but the night was so dark that it seemed impossible for me to see Him ; I had no light out of nowhere, not even a lightning bolt burst the gloomy clouds … Surely, that ray of light coming from the lightning would be bleak, but in it, although during a storm, I could see Jesus for a moment … but it was a deep night, a night of the soul … ”

and on

“… utter dryness, almost abandonment, was my part. Jesus – as usual – slept in his little boat. Ah! I know perfectly well how seldom do souls allow him to fall asleep peacefully in them. Jesus is so tired of constantly giving and chasing souls that he is willing to take advantage of the rest that I offer him. It will probably wake up only during my great retreat in eternity, but this, instead of making me sad, gives me the greatest joy … “ (St. Teresa of the Child Jesus,” History of the soul “, Krakow 1996; pp. 123 and 172) .

These are just some of the frequent comparisons of the state of the soul to the boat with Jesus sleeping during a storm, but it is enough. It is clear that this young girl speaks through this young girl at the threshold of her religious life, with great sanctity: heroic love and boundless trust.

But not all of us, and actually few of us, can afford such love and trust. Sometimes we declare in prayer that we are so full of love and devotion, but deep down we are afraid, we feel sorry for him, we are angry with him that he is asleep, we want to scream – we just think that he does not fall …

But take it easy. In the most beautiful prayers, which are the Psalms, we find the following words:

“Wake up! Why are you sleeping, Lord?

Awake! Don’t reject it forever!

Why are you hiding your face?

Do you forget about our poverty and our oppression? ” (Ps 44)

As if that were not enough, the psalmist rebukes God for being unfaithful to his people, leaving them to suffer persecution and death while the people were faithful to him! “Rise up! Come and help us! ”

Is this not the cry of the students in a storm-torn boat? It is almost identical. But the Psalmist believes that the Lord has power and will help if He wills. He reminds him of what good he has done for his people as if he wanted to motivate him! And because he is standing with God in truth, he doesn’t pretend that everything is alright. She feels sorry for him and shouts about it. He tears at him with words, behind which, however, there is boundless trust …

If anyone feels able to weather the storm without waking Jesus – spare Him. However, if someone deep down feels weak, fearful and disappointed by his sleep, let him shout, let him tug him, let him reproach him. Let’s not pretend to be someone else, let’s be ourselves. Always in truth before Him, but with the confidence that He, too – in a way that is only his own and known in himself – can come to our aid.