SCRIPTURE READINGS:
Am 3:1-8, 4:11-12;
1
Listen, Israelites, to this prophecy which Yahweh
pronounces against you, against the whole family which I
brought up from Egypt:
2 You
alone have I intimately known of all the families of earth, that is why I shall
punish you for all your wrong-doings.
3 Do
two people travel together unless they have agreed to do so?
4 Does
the lion roar in the forest if it has no prey? Does the young lion growl in his
lair if it has caught nothing?
5 Does
a bird fall on the ground in a net unless a trap has been set for it? Will the net
spring up from the ground without catching something?
6 Does
the trumpet sound in the city without the people being alarmed? Does misfortune
come to a city if Yahweh has not
caused it?
8 The
lion roars: who is not afraid? Lord Yahweh has
spoken: who will not
prophesy? 11 I overturned you as God overturned
Sodom and Gomorrah; you were like a brand snatched from the blaze and still you
would not come back to me -declares Yahweh.
12 So this, Israel, is what I plan to do to you. Because I
am going to do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God!
MT 8:23-27
23 Then
he got into the boat followed by his disciples.
24
Suddenly a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the boat was being
swamped by the waves. But he was asleep.
25 So
they went to him and woke him saying, 'Save us, Lord, we are lost!'
26 And
he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened, you who have so little faith?' And
then he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27 They were astounded and said, 'Whatever kind of man is this,
that even the winds and the sea obey him?'
Many
of us, instead of surrendering our life to God, are always hesitating to do the
Lord’s will. We keep
on doubting His love for us. We question His wisdom. We want to do
our own will. When trials and oppositions set in, we give up so easily
without a fight. We cannot even tolerate a little suffering, occasional
setbacks and failures; the human frailties of our fellowmen or even of
ourselves. What is worse, we become resentful of God! We give up faith in
Him.
This,
too, was the case of the disciples of Jesus in the gospel. They were facing a violent storm and
the boat was about to sink. Apparently, they thought that Jesus was
indifferent to their fears and anxieties. They forgot that Jesus had
earlier on cured so many who were sick and delivered those possessed by the
devils. Yet, after having seen Jesus’ power over illness, suffering and
death, they still did not trust Jesus sufficiently that He would protect his
disciples from all dangers. When they in panic turned to Jesus and woke
Him up saying “Save us, Lord, we are going down!”, the reply of Jesus was one
of assurance and yet a challenge to them: “Why are you so frightened, you men
of little faith?’ And with that he rebuked the winds and the seas; and
all was calm again.”
The
lesson we can learn from the disciples in the storm is that the Lord is
always watching over us, even when He appears to be indifferent to our plight.
Such occasions are meant to help us to deepen our faith in Him, as in
the case of the disciples. Otherwise, greater disasters will await
us. Although God wants to save us all, if we do not at least give Him
some confidence, He cannot help us because He does not force His love on
us. All He asks of us is a little faith and from that small seed of faith,
He will bring it to fruition and maturity. Only faith in Jesus as our
Lord and Saviour can help us to tide over the storms of life without becoming
overwhelmed. We need not be under the bondage of the Devil, whether it is
our addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, greed and anger, if we allow Jesus to
calm the storms of life for us.
When we
do not let go of those things in life that cause us misery, such as gambling,
womanizing, drinking and cheating, we will eventually be consumed by our anger,
resentment, hatred and disillusionment with ourselves and everyone else.
So
let us give that little faith to Jesus. That is all He is asking of us. Let the Lord lead us by His
hand. When we are afraid, then Jesus says, “Remember, It is I.” We
must wake up to the presence of Jesus in our lives. When we give Him that seed
of faith, He will produce wonders and miracles in our lives. After which,
our faith will grow from strength to strength. So it is all right that we
do not have faith in Jesus completely. But we must seek to trust Him more
and more. When Jesus told the father of the boy suffering from epileptic
demoniac, “Everything is possible for one who has faith.” We read, “At
once the father of the boy cried out, ‘I have faith. Help my lack of
faith!’” (Mk 9:24f). And Jesus rewarded him by casting out the evil
spirit from his son. We can be certain that after witnessing what Jesus
did, his faith certainly would have grown stronger and deeper. So let us
learn from him. In truth and sincerity, we must tell Jesus the same
thing, “I have faith. Help my lack of faith.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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