Weekend Mass

Dear Beloved Family of St. Anselm,

In these very challenging times, when our Church is often in the news for very shameful reasons, the Gospel today teaches that although storms and struggles inevitably arise, we have a choice: whether to focus on the storms or on Jesus. Let's look at this Gospel in three stages: 

I. Perceived Distance– Jesus retreats to pray, exhibiting the mysterious truth that God sometimes seems to hide His face: How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? (Ps 13:1) My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? (Ps 22:2) These could very much be the lament of some of us seated in Church this weekend. While the storm grows, Jesus makes His way toward His disciples in stages. At first, they cannot see Him, but surely He sees and knows them. Later, even when they do see Him, they mistake Him for a ghost. Likewise, we often conclude that God has hidden His face from us, perhaps even unconcerned. But sometimes it is simply that our minds are weak and easily distracted Sometimes it is that we insist on seeing and understanding only in ways that are acceptable and pleasing to us, acting as if God could not possibly speak through our enemy, a child, or a painful circumstance God is there Yes, as our faith grows, even amid storms, we can know that He is near and draw strength and courage from that.

II Produced Distress – Besides the disciples' experience of distance from the Lord is the distress of the storm itself. In the perceived absence of God, fears increase and shadows grow longer. In this sense, many of our distresses stem from our lack of faith and our lack of awareness of God's abiding presence. There is an old saying, “Stop telling God how big your storm is. Tell the storm how big your God is.” This can only come as we grow in faith and in the experience of God’s presence.

III Point of Decision – The Lord presents them with a choice: Either focus on the storm or focus on Him. He is not just telling them not to be afraid; He is saying, It is I, be not afraid. It is the same for us. If we accept that trials are part of the Christian life and come to experience the Lord's presence even amid them, our fear will dissipate. It is notthat there will be no storms; rather, it is that those storms will not overwhelm us with fear.

In the week ahead, let us pray for the gift to focus increasingly on the Lord. Pray for the gift to feed your faith, starving your negativity and storm-focused fears.

The Book of Hebrews says, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).

Amen.