Tag: boat

“Lord, save us! We are perishing!” | Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you. For you, O God, delight not in wickedness; no evil man remains with you; the arrogant may not stand in your sight. Lead me in your justice, Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 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?”

In the first reading, through the prophet Amos, the Lord says, “So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel! And since I will deal thus with you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.” In the Gospel, we see the God who has mastery over the forces of nature in the boat with the disciples as a violent storm suddenly comes up. Terrified they will die at sea, they awaken Jesus, who lies asleep in the back of the boat. The cause of the disciples’ fear and the answer to their fear are one in the same: the Lord of sea and sky is with them. He quiets the sea and stills their trembling. As he questions their faith, they question what sort of man this is who commands the winds and the sea. Jesus, true God and true man, is the same one who has the divine authority to quiet any storm that might overtake us. He asks us to have faith in this.

God, help me trust you today as I face its little uncertainties and anything that might overwhelm me with anxiety and fear. Isn’t it enough, Lord, to know that you are with me at all times? Yet, I sometimes fail to call that to mind when I have throughout the day the greatest opportunities to live out complete faith and trust in you. Give me the grace, then, to remember in confidence that you are with me in troubled times and in times of peace. I trust in you, Lord; my soul trusts in your word.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Quiet! Be still!” | Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

Free Catholic Prayer Guide

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 4:35-41)

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

Mark recounts Jesus’ calming of the storm while he and his disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee. Amazed and terrified, the disciples say, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” The calming of the storm demonstrates Jesus’ authority and power over the natural elements. When the sea is quiet, Jesus asks them a penetrating question in response to theirs, to the indifference they believe Jesus shows. “Do you not yet have faith?” he asks them. In the midst of a storm—any storm—Jesus is present and has power over it. By calming the storm, Jesus demonstrates divine authority and reveals greater authority still over the havoc of sin and death, victorious over it as the Savior.

God, help me recognize in the work of your Son Jesus the relationship of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, described during Pentecost as a strong driving wind, was present when Jesus calmed the driving winds of the storm. A quietness followed that left the disciples “filled with great awe” with an awakening awareness that the Son of God rested in the boat with them. When the storms of life overwhelm, Lord, help me come to you with confidence, knowing that with a word you can calm them. And give me renewed faith to remain in your boat in the wake of the storm, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

From the responsorial psalm: “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. Create a clean heart in me, O God.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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