Thought for the Day – 17 April – The Storms of Life

Thought for the Day – 17 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Storms of Life

“The Evangelist describes how Jesus got nto a boat one day, alog with His Apostles and and set out across the lake of Genesareth.
Suddenly a great storm arose, so furious, that the waves covered the tiny vessel and threatened to submerge it.
The Apostles were terrified and turned to Jesus but, He was asleep.
They woke Him, crying out: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
He sat up and said to them: “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”
Then, He rebuked the wind and the sea and immediately all was calm again.
His followers were astonished.
“What manner of man is this,” they asked one another, “that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mt 8:23-26; Mk 4:36-49; Lk 8:22-25).

We also are often subjected to the tempests of life.
Sometimes, these storms, are purely interior, as when our lower impulses threaten to overcome our good resolutions and to submerge our purity of soul.
In these serious crises, we should turn humbly and fervently to Jesus for help.
Sometimes perhaps, Jesus will seem to be asleep and deaf to our anguished entreaties.
But it is never so!
He simply wishes to test us, as He tested His Apostles on the lake of Genesareth.

We must persevere.
We must tell Him that we do not wish to lose His grace, that we do not wish to fall into sin but desire to go on loving Him.
If our prayers are humble and insistent, we may rest assured, that after our moment of trial, Jesus Christ will speak to us.
At the sound of His Voice, the tempest will be stilled and there will come, a great calm.
Then, we shall experience the peace, which only God can give.

Antonio Cardinal Bacci