Tag: storm

“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.

“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” | Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “They rejoiced that they were calmed, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his kindness and his wondrous deeds to the children of men. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.”

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

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?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

As Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee with his disciples to reach the pagan territory of Gerasenes, a sudden gust of wind comes up over their boat. As water began to fill it, the boat was in danger of sinking and the disciples became frightened. In waking Jesus, he speaks with the same power over nature that God displays in the first reading from Job. Jesus speaks, and the sea obeys. So it is with the troubled waters of life, when in times of trial we call into question where God is in the storm. “Do you not care?” Just as God sets the limits of what we can bear, so Christ with a word disperses our storms and says, “Quiet! Be still!” At times like that, we can only pause in thanksgiving at the wondrous deeds God works in our lives.

God, I know you are present at all times. As the Gospel acclamation says, “A great prophet has risen in our midst. God has visited his people.” When I turn my back on you, I am the one responsible for your apparent absence. But you are there nonetheless, and in times of trouble I have an urgent need to find you again. “Be still,” Jesus says. “Be still and know that I am God!” the psalmist prays, “The LORD of hosts is with us.” Give me the faith, Lord, to keep you in my sight throughout the day so that when night comes I have unshakeable confidence in you at all times—in life’s storms and in the calm of their ceasing.

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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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 14:22-33)

Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

It is the fourth watch of the night, a dark hour. In the boat alone, the disciples have left Jesus to pray on the mountain after he had fed the five thousand. Then, in the midst of a storm that tosses about their boat, the disciples see a figure approach them on the water. They are terrified. Elijah, who took shelter in a cave also experienced the presence of God in a storm, in a landslide, in an earthquake, and in fire. But it was in none of these that the LORD was present. After the storms passed, Elijah heard a tiny whispering sound, and there the LORD was. In the same way, Jesus reveals his divine identity to the disciples in quiet, calming words: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” The disciples come to know Jesus by his words, and they proclaim: “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

God, just as Jesus reveals his identity to the disciples, I stand in disbelief of your presence. Unlike them, my response to you is not terror, not primordial fear; instead, subject to the modern age, I express conscious or unconscious skepticism each day as I consider how things come to be, how you are at work in the world. Still, you are present to me in the same way you were to Elijah and the disciples. Lord, you have authority over all of nature; you who calms the storms, give me the grace to put aside any frame of mind that prevents me from recognizing that you alone are God. “I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for his word,” says the Gospel acclamation. God, quiet my heart today so I can hear your voice.

From the responsorial psalm: “I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD — for he proclaims peace. Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land.” Lord, give me courage to love and serve you.

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.