“And There Was Great Calm” by Melanie Rigney (@melanierigney)

Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The sun was just rising over the earth as Lot arrived in Zoar; at the same time the LORD rained down sulfurous fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of heaven. He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain, together with the inhabitants of the cities and the produce of the soil. But Lot's wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:23-26)

O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes. (Psalm 26:3a)

Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but (Jesus) 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. (Matthew 8:24-26)

Piety

Lord, may I cling to you always, rain or shine, storm or calm.

Study

It is so easy to trust and believe when you wake up and find this, accompanied by singing birds. You can almost taste God in the breeze, the dissipating fog, the gentle sunshine. It’s all good, just like Him.

Storms are different, no matter how many we’ve survived. Consider the disciples. All were adults; many had worked or lived by the sea all their lives. Surely, there’d been storms before. They’d survived them, though they likely knew people who had. And yet, in today’s Gospel reading, they fall apart. They have to wake up Jesus and beg Him for a sort of salvation. He provides it, with a bit of a rebuke for their lack of faith.

In today’s first reading, Lot’s wife suffered even more greatly for a lack of faith. Did she look back with tears and sadness for lost friends? Did she look back to see just how bad the destruction was? We don’t know, but we know the price she paid.

God’s in those peaceful, beautiful moments in our lives. He’s also with us in the ones that scare us and hurt us physically and threaten to rip out our hearts and even our souls. When we surrender our fears and keep our eyes on him, confident in His mercy, we will find it… and great calm, even in the midst of the storm.

Action

Pray for the Convocation of Catholic Leaders participants as the gathering wraps up today in Florida, that they return to their dioceses and organizations on fire to serve, regardless of the storms of indifference and resistance they may face back at home.