And behold, there was a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves."

 

And behold, there was a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves." The sea can be interpreted as the world, evil and death. It is the reality of those who are submerged in the rubble of an existence without truth, without love and without hope. It is the world of those who have not yet chosen God, have not discovered the beauty and importance of belonging to the Lord, of being able to call Him Father. In this world, what rules is selfishness, individualism, superstition, superficiality, the illusion of having and pleasure at any cost, the desire to possess everything and others, self-idolatry, anxiety, the logic of domination, war, hunger, plagues and death. It is the world of inhuman competition, of exploitation of others in every sense, of make-believe, of unconscious terrors coming to the surface. In the middle of this world there is a boat, apparently lost, alone, at the mercy of the storms, being tossed on all sides. This boat It is the Church of Jesus Christ, which must be for the world the legitimate instrument of truth, love and hope, of life and human dignity. It has another type of logic, another way of looking at planetary reality, another way of acting with human beings; it has a horizon, a direction and offers the security that the world does not have. The way of the Church is that of its Head; its logic is that of Christ; its purpose is eternal communion with God; its mode of action is based on love and truth; its greatest joy is to serve in the likeness of its Spouse. The logic of the Church challenges the world.

"But Jesus slept." The wooden pillow and the tomb can simultaneously indicate the cross and death of Jesus. While Jesus was on the cross and in the tomb, his disciples had no peace, their restless minds and lack of perception of the future tormented them. What a difficult time! Everything seemed destroyed. Who could really save them? Only the Resurrected One. It means, then, that God often seems to let man walk alone, so that he may realize his limitations and needs, and know himself and the importance of God in his life. Well, it is not that the Lord truly moves away, since everything is sustained by Him. Nothing can continue to exist if God moves away. Jesus' sleep gives His disciples the great opportunity to trust more and more in their Lord, to see that they cannot steer the boat with their own strength, that their journey in the world requires divine grace, God's protection, His saving presence. The boat cannot be steered according to the dictates of human reason, but according to God's logic. As long as man trusts in himself, he will never achieve God's plan for him. This is the case with the Church, which cannot continue in history, in the midst of the world, facing evil and death, through the "brilliant" minds of men and women puffed up with pride and contaminated by the way of thinking of a reason without God. Sleeping while the boat is being shaken can also be a lesson for the entire Church that, despite the setbacks and challenges of every day, it needs to remain standing, trusting in the Word of God and completely focused on its Head; it should not despair in the face of persecution, because in it is peace (Jesus sleeps, is at peace), there is life, there is He who has power over all things, who can walk on water, multiply loaves, raise the dead, etc.

"Lord, save us, for we are perishing!" Peter was walking on water when he became afraid and began to sink. At the most critical moment of his life, when he realized his extreme limitations, he cried out with the most important need: "Lord, save me". This is the cry of the Church, which, despite being holy as a work of God and belonging to Him, is fragile in each of its members. Furthermore, the ferocity of Satan and of godless man is very incisive against the community of God's children. The world acts fearlessly and without judgment in the most bizarre way possible against the Church, seeking in every way to demoralize or even destroy it. Both externally and internally, the world has affronted the children of God within their own home. The Church is defamed, betrayed by many within itself, treated as if it were a disgrace and an agent of dehumanization. The world calls truth what is a lie and lies what is truth. Jesus is the Truth, but the world insists on contradicting His teachings, falsifying them and teaching them according to its illusions. However, on the other hand, many also use, within their religious inventions, the name of Jesus to achieve what Jesus himself condemns, such as the unbridled search for money. Greed in the name of Jesus is the fashion of sects, which are a total distortion of the Gospel. The world, in its distorted pagan and religious reality, throws against the Church everything that characterizes it, so that it may be loved, and the Church may suffer ever more.