Tempest-Tossed

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The first reading praises the faith of Abraham and puts it in context, the context of coming salvation. Regarding eternal salvation in Christ, the reading says of Abraham and his descendants, “They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.”

And well might the faith of Abraham be praised. Imagine God coming to you and telling you, like Him, to sacrifice your child. You prepare to do so, not out of servile submission to a God you fear because you consider Him brutal and bloody, but out of such faith in His goodness, that you know His plan to be good in spite of the apparent evil confronting you. It is possible that there is no faith greater than that of Abraham in the history of mankind, save perhaps that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who watched her Son slaughtered on Calvary.

In reality, though, we are all called to walk in a faith similar to Abraham’s as we sojourn through this world. The evil around us continually threatens to block the sun of God’s promise of eternal happiness. It continually threatens to block out the light of the reality of a loving God.

And, often enough, what happened to the disciples in today’s gospel likewise happens to us. The boat of our life is tossed by trials and tribulations that loom authentically threatening; stresses real, and challenges seemingly insurmountable. In all of this, Abraham’s ancient example, so eloquently cited in Hebrews, shines a beacon of light. Even as the Lord appears to sleep in the stern, the welfare of our little boat is in His capable hands; it is His course that it follows through the deep.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: The Gospel admonishes us not to give in to our worries and cares; to trust with unwavering faith. In a context of faith and trust, our stresses and worries are an ideal gift to serve up on a platter to our God, even at the height of their effect. Think of the burdens you are bearing right now. Don’t ask Jesus to eliminate them. Offer them to Him generously, in union with His cross, in union with the sufferings of Our Lady under that cross, for the spiritual welfare of many.