Readings speak of prophet Elijah fleeing for his life; Paul’s fears and concerns for
fellow Jewish people, the church, disciples of Jesus caught in a storm, Peter’s doubts,
fear and confession of faith. They all experience God’s calming and assuring presence
in the midst of storms of life. We are invited to reflect on life’s struggles and the role of
faith. We encounter storms of doubt and fear that of not arriving at spiritual or material
wellness or feel peace shattered by unexpected events in life, direction lost! Faith
comes to our aid, not to sink in life’s setbacks, when hopes crushed, relationships
broken. Jesus is on our life’s boat, holding us from drowning. When tossed about by
storms of life, we don’t see clearly, our vision gets foggy, and even lose touch with
reality. One cannot escape storms but patiently wait for the storms to pass trusting that
Christ is in the storms. Life threatening things become a challenge to face with the
awareness that Jesus is with you!
Young Catholic journalist Liz Dodd talks about her encounter with God in prayer: ‘My
unanswered prayers felt like silence, a sense that God had turned his back on me!
When I began cycling around the world in 2017, it seemed like God hung on my every
word; every prayer answered whether it was about an open supermarket on a Sunday
or like a shelter offered in a Serbian Monastery when there were, literally, wolves at my
heels. As I rode on into the Central Asian winter, the miracles stopped. I prayed for
sunshine and woke up to a blizzard in Kyrgyzstan, for fellowship and my best friend
quit our adventure and left me alone. I stopped talking to God, being stonewalled, far
from home, frightened and lonely, hurt too much. I said to God, we are going on a
break! This was easier said than done, because ignoring God was like trying to ignore
my shadow, which was frustrating. Why ignore me when I called, then show up in the
stars when I was trying to sleep on Vietnamese beaches? God and I got back together
near Canada. I am not sure he ever opened supermarkets for me miraculously or
changed the wind for my advantage. I don’t think God changes our circumstances as
we wish: how else to understand the beatitudes [blessed are the poor in spirit, who are
gentle and merciful; blessed are those hunger and thirst of justice etc] or nurses dying
with Covid19? At those low points, I don’t think God is silent: I think he is listening’!
Listening God came in the storm, saying ‘do not be afraid’; listening God spoke to
Elijah in the gentle breeze, saying go back to your way!
In the earthquakes of life, stillness of our prayer/meditation opens us to the word of
God that comes to us as empowering breeze like presence. Elijah was angry and
frustrated that Israel replaced God with pagan idols and queen Jezebel sought to kill
him. In the gentle breeze God’s word removed Elijah’s fear and asked him to go back to
fulfill his prophetic mission. Christ is the greater presence, source of courage, strength
in the midst of life’s adversities. Jesus walking on the sea is symbolic of his power over
death, his resurrection. In the bible, sea is deadly, place of chaos, abode of monster. As
God created the world out of shapeless chaos, Jesus saves and brings us to life from
the chaos of life and death. The gospel question here is: who is Jesus? Gospel gives
the answer: He is Son of God, worthy of worship! When Jesus said: it is I and calmed
the sea, the disciples felt the divine presence as Moses encountered God in the
burning bush, God saying his name as: I am [Yahweh]! Faith reminds us that Jesus is
Emmanuel, God with us in the storms of life and this presence is made alive in the
Eucharist, giving us strength, as for Elijah, to go on our way!