“... Let us always pray with great trust in God. He loves us and knows what is best for us.” (Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta).
I have been reflecting on that miracle of Christ’s calming the story sea…
“On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do you not care if we perish?’ And He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:35-41).
On that day, when Christ suggested the boat trip, the apostles (many of whom were fishermen) must have looked at the sky and felt the wind and thought to themselves, “This is going to be interesting.” Maybe they even thought to themselves that they should mention something to Christ to warn Him that His plan did not appear to be a safe one. When I think about this story, I imagine the apostles – particularly Simon Peter – walking over to Christ, completely determined to tell Him that perhaps they should wait until tomorrow to cast out into the sea because it looked as though a storm were coming. And then, I imagine as Saint Simon Peter got close to the Man who he loved most in all the world, he noticed how strained and tired Christ’s Face was. Perhaps, he noticed that Christ appeared to be slumping a little and shuffling His Feet with exhaustion. Maybe he noticed that Christ looked grey from exhaustion.
Perhaps – as he drew closer to God Made Man – he remembered that while he had eaten a little that day, he had not seen Christ eating at all… Perhaps, when Saint Simon Peter drew near to his Beloved that day, he simply decided – out of love for God – to simply accept God’s plan without an argument, just because God looked so tired that day.
Nut once Christ was sleeping on that boat and the storms had come, then Saint Peter got worried, and then he got scared. Then, instead of trusting in the LOGIC and REASON of FAITH, he panicked and thought to himself that he would perish on a boat at sea with the Messiah – King of the Jews…
And then – just when he was on the verge of despair, then Christ saved him… And Saint Peter never forgot that lesson… “cast all your anxieties upon Him, because he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).
Saints always remember these lessons. During the final year of her life, Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta was very ill and suffering the effects of a difficult surgery. She was eighty-six years old. In one of the letters that she wrote to a collaborator, the Saint wrote, “This year has been a gift from God to me, and I am happy that I have been able to offer something to Jesus. We should accept that all He wants from us is a smile... Let us always pray with great trust in God. He loves us and knows what is best for us. I do not know why all this has happened this very year, but I am sure about something: Jesus never makes mistakes.”
And so, today I pray the prayer of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, because I know – with all my soul – that God does not make mistakes…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.