The storm in our lives

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

We read in the Gospel of Mark the Apostles’ encounter with a storm that paved the way for a lesson on faith. “That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious storm came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” (Mark 4:35-41)

Our Lord Jesus rebuked the Apostles not for doubting that He could do something about the storm, but for questioning whether He cared! “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” That is why Jesus upbraided them, saying, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Note that Jesus did not say to the Apostles, “How little is your faith,” but rather, “Do you still have no faith?” meaning that their trust in Jesus on whether He cared for them was zero. It is as if our Lord was telling them, “How could you say I don’t care?” Many times in our lives, when we undergo great difficulties such as financial constraints or a family member who is very sick, we might also question God, saying, “Lord, don’t you care?” It was out of intense fear that the Apostles complained to Jesus about whether he cared. This is what happens when fear is stronger than faith — we begin to question God. We have to remember that faith and fear are both beliefs. Faith is the belief that everything is for our own good because God loves us, although we might not see the benefit right away. Fear, on the other hand, is the belief that something bad will happen to us based on the bad situation we are in right now. Thus, we eliminate or diminish belief in “Divine Providence,” which refers to God, who wisely directs the life of each and every human being here on Earth for our own good — especially spiritual good — in the same way that God directs the natural course of the universe.

The storm also symbolizes the trials the Church as a whole — represented by the boat manned by the Apostles, who were the first bishops — would undergo over the years, until the end of the world. The boat will not sink, or the Church will never disintegrate, even though oftentimes we think it would because of the strong winds or the strong trials it would undergo. But it will not only survive but thrive because Christ is in it.

How can we grow more in our faith? Answer: by feeding it more. If we are not prayerful, or we rarely attend Mass, or we do not read and reflect on Scriptures or other spiritual books, then of course our faith will diminish and our fears will grow. The two always go together. If faith grows, fear is lessened. If faith is hardly practiced, we become more fearful, more stressed, and more miserable in life. It takes faith to believe “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) The passage says everything is for our own good — not just some things but everything — as St. Therese of the Child Jesus once said, “Everything is grace (blessing).”