Alberic Jacovone OSB
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YEAR A
NINETEENTH SUNDAY - 7.8.05
1 Kg 19,9.11-13; Rom 9,1-5; Mt 14,22-33
God
in the storms of our life
How
‘real’ is your Lord’s presence? Today’s story, is about Jesus who calms the stormy waters. It starts
with the word ‘immediately’, to link with the miracle of “feeding 5000
people”, (last Sunday’s reading). There, Matthew stressed that God always
provides for us personally & abundantly. Indeed, every time we come to the
Eucharist, we are fed at the Lord’s Table & are united in loving communion
with Him. In today’s story, Matthew stresses the point that our Lord is
-forever & for real- powerfully present in our life & in our Church.
Indeed he is wonderfully locked-in with us in all the stormy & conflicting
events of our life... Sadly however, like the apostles in the boat, only rarely
we are aware that the Lord is really present. Like them, we consider that Jesus
is asleep or like Peter, we take his presence lightly, & pay only lip
service to it. Today, we are urged to deepen our conviction that our Risen Lord
is in command, & that his presence is real & strong especially in the
storms of life’s events. Often, we speak of real presence only to talk
vaguely about the eucharistic presence in Our Lord: body, soul, spirit &
divi- nity, sacramentally present under the ‘species’ of bread & wine.
His presence is to foster in us an intense conviction, that the Lord is for
real, that He is ever so loving & caring, ever inviting us to be in constant
union of prayer with him. If the Year of the Eucharist means anything, it means
that the Lord Jesus -as a real & loving Lord- is our companion in the
struggles of life, He wishes us to shares our day with Him, experiencing his
close presence & being by our side, ever so present: anywhere, anytime. If
we only realized this, we would be so focused, so in love & at peace...and
we would fall much less...
The
Bark of Peter.
Today, is the 2nd of 5 Sundays we are reflecting on Jesus’ presence in his
Church (Mt 13,33-18,35). We’ve pondered on the need to eat the bread of heaven
in solitary place, now we discover the Lord’s presence as we go through the
storms of life into freedom. A boat struggling through threatening waters is one
of the earliest symbols of the Church. And just as artists of all ages have
depicted the boat tossed through a stormy sea, so ancient Christian writers have
delighted in allocating all aspects of sea travel to Church life in all details:
thus the Church is a fragile boat struggling to reach the safe harbour of
eternity; the world & its conflicts are the stormy waters and the fury of
the waves; Peter & the Apostles are the boat’s helmsmen & oarsmen who
work hard to bring the boat ashore, & Jesus himself is in total command. But
there is more: The imagination of the early writers saw the ‘Sign of the
Cross’ represented by the tall mast(s) when crossed by the large beam(s)
holding the sail(s). This majestic sign of the cross on boats was for them an
anticipation of Christ’s redemption on all forms of sea travel and a
conviction that ‘in this sign Christians must hope & win’. In the Church
as in the boat, Jesus though invisible (asleep) is Risen Lord; he is in charge
really present and really able to bring the boat into the safe harbour of
eternity. Indeed, Jesus is the pioneer who -ahead of us- throws the anchor of
faith and secures the boat onto the safe shore of heaven. We are safe as long as
we are close & in his presence. The very words that he shouts to the
frightened apostles: ‘It is I’ (Greek: ‘Ego eimi’) are a translation of
the Hebrew name of God: JHWH =Yahweh = I am who am (Ex. 3,11+). In the boat, the
apostles need more faith, and so do we. Today, believe that the Lord is for real
and that you need his presence especially when you are frightened. Pray: Lord, Help me.
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