Caritas Christi Urget Nos

Tag: storms

  • Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

    Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings

    Faith is that moment in our walk with the Lord when we have to put our money where our mouth is. Faith says that we believe that Jesus is who he says he is, and that who he says he is has a profound impact on our life. It’s easy to have faith when things are going well, isn’t it? When we’re not worried about disease or illness or social unrest or political bickering or job insecurity or family issues or whatever the crisis is, it’s easy to have faith then, right?

    But when things get crazy, well. That’s a whole different thing.

    The writer of the letter to the Hebrews is very right when he says that “faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Because faith is real when you have to step out of your comfort zone. Abraham literally took a step in faith when he went to a foreign country and believed that, though Sarah was sterile, God would provide descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.

    But most of us would probably fare little better than the apostles in the boat in today’s Gospel reading. The moment a little storm comes along, or even a big one, we forget that God cares about us and we feel as though we are perishing in the middle of the night on the sea.

    So where are you on the faith journey? Are you taking that step into the unknown like Abraham? Or are you freaking out in the storm? If it’s the second thing, maybe today it would help to name the storm, to recognize what it’s doing to you, doing to your faith life. Because the unnamed storms can’t be addressed. When we know what they are, we can bring them to Jesus, who does actually care about us, who does not desire our perishing, and who longs to shout into that storm, “Quiet, be still!”

    If the wind and the sea obey him, so will the storms that are raging in us right now. They really will.

  • Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

    Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

    Today’s readings

    I’m always amazed by the fortitude of Saint Paul. He’s almost stoned to death and left, in fact, for dead, and he gets up and enters the city like nothing was wrong. I don’t know about you, but if I barely weathered the storm of people throwing rocks at me and leaving me for dead, I might think twice about how I handled my ministry. That’s nothing to be proud of, but I think that’s part of fallen human nature. How blessed we are to have the saints, like Saint Paul, to give example of how to weather the storm and live the faith and preach the word. Indeed, if it weren’t for the grace-filled tenacity of those saintly apostles, we would very likely not have the joy of our faith today.

    But contrast the storminess of Paul’s stoning with the wonderful words of encouragement and consolation we have in today’s Gospel reading: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” We can think of all sorts of situations in which these words would be welcome. We have all experienced health problems in ourselves or in those close to us, job difficulties, family problems, and so many more. How wonderfully consoling it is to know that in the midst of the many storms we face every day, our Savior is there: offering us peace.

    But the peace Jesus offers us in this reading is a bit different from what we might expect. It’s not the mere absence of conflict, nor is it any kind of placating peace the world might offer us. This peace is a genuine one, a peace that comes from the inside out, a peace that calms our troubled minds and hearts even if it does not remove the storm.

    God knows that we walk through storms every day. He experienced that first-hand in the person of Jesus as he walked our walk in his earthly life. He knows our joys and our pains, and reaches out to us in every one of them with his abiding presence and his loving embrace. He was there for Saint Paul when he was being stoned, and he is there for us too. His presence abides in us through the Church, through the holy people God has put in our lives, through his presence in our moments of prayer and reflection, and in so many ways we could never count them all. This peace from the inside out is one that our God longs for us to know, whether we are traversing calm waters or braving a vicious storm.

    We pray, then, for the grace to find peace in our daily lives, the peace that comes from Jesus himself.

    Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

  • Saturday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time

    Saturday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings

    Faith is that moment in our walk with the Lord when we have to put our money where our mouth is.  Faith says that we believe that Jesus is who he says he is, and that who he says he is has a profound impact on our life.  It’s easy to have faith when things are going well, isn’t it?  When there’s not a pandemic, and when we can live our lives the way we want to, and when we can see our loved ones wherever and whenever we want to, and actually hug them, when we’re not worried about disease or illness or social unrest or political bickering or job insecurity or family issues or whatever the crisis is, it’s easy to have faith then, right?

    But when things get crazy, well.  That’s a whole different thing.

    The writer of the letter to the Hebrews is very right when he says that “faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”  Because faith is real when you have to step out of your comfort zone.  Abraham literally took a step in faith when he went to a foreign country and believed that, though Sarah was sterile, God would provide descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. 

    But most of us would probably fare little better than the apostles in the boat in today’s Gospel reading.  The moment a little storm comes along, or even a big one, we forget that God cares about us and we feel as though we are perishing in the middle of the night on the sea. 

    So where are you on the faith journey?  Are you taking that step into the unknown like Abraham?  Or are you freaking out in the storm?  If it’s the second thing, maybe today it would help to name the storm, to recognize what it’s doing to you, doing to your faith life.  Because the unnamed storms can’t be addressed.  When we know what they are, we can bring them to Jesus, who does actually care about us, who does not desire our perishing, and who longs to shout into that storm, “Quiet, be still!”

    If the wind and the sea obey him, so will the storms that are raging in us right now.  They really will.

  • Liturgy of Remembrance: Plainfield Tornado

    Liturgy of Remembrance: Plainfield Tornado

    Today’s readings: 2 Corinthians 4:14-5:1 | Psalm 23 | Mark 4:35-41

    It’s easy to understand how the disciples on the boat were worried, even panicking.  They’re in a boat, in the middle of the sea, and it’s a dark night, and a storm whips up, and their beloved leader is sleeping.  One wonders how he could sleep so soundly in the midst of the storm!  

    Our life is full of storms.  Some of them are minor things, but others have a lasting impact.  Some of them merely give rain to the fields, some of them bring destruction.  In our area, this was never more evident than thirty years ago this afternoon, when an F-5 tornado tore through sections of our area, destroying the high school one day before it was to be filled with students on their first day of school, and, of course, destroying Saint Mary Immaculate Church, taking the lives of 29 people, and injuring many others.

    I wasn’t living in Plainfield at the time, but I remember hearing about it because one of my good friends, Paul Sirvatka, chased the tornado, and had video of the beginning of the storm.  Hearing the news that day was surreal; nothing that devastating had ever happened in our area before, and the tales of the destruction were heartbreaking.  

    So many storms, of various types, have happened since, including this year.  We are still living with the very destructive storm of COVID-19, and with the storms of social unrest caused by more and more reports of racial injustice.  And, of course, we can’t forget the much smaller, F-1 tornado, that was part of the “Derecho” storm a couple of weeks ago.  We could also add the storms of our own lives: the illness and death of loved ones, employment insecurity, family troubles.  It seems like there’s almost always a storm or two brewing in the atmosphere of our lives.

    In all these storms, it’s human nature to ask whys our loving God allow such destruction?  We will never know the answer to that fully because we can’t see the big picture that God sees.  But we believe that our faithful Lord is with us in the storm.  Whatever it is that is pounding against our boat is no match for our God who is with us in whatever way He knows is best for us.  It doesn’t mean he’s going to wave a magic wand and make all of our troubles go away, but it does mean that we don’t ever have to go through anything alone.

    Several years ago, there was a contemporary Christian song called “Sometimes He Calms the Storm” and the lyrics of the song have given me peace in my stormy times.  Here are some of them:

    Sometimes He calms the storm
    With a whispered peace be still
    He can settle any sea
    But it doesn’t mean He will

    Sometimes He holds us close
    And lets the wind and waves go wild
    Sometimes He calms the storm
    And other times He calms His child.

    We don’t know, any more than those disciples did, why the storms in our life come up.  They may be remnants of the evil unleashed by original sin, or even the direct sin of people.  Sometimes God prevents them from harming us; other times he prevents us from something that would have been more harmful.  But whatever happens, we are never alone, and our God is there to be with us, steadying us, guiding us, giving us the grace to get through it and be of help to others, with strength we never knew we had.Whether the storm needs to hear it, or we do, Jesus says in the midst of it all: “Quiet! Be still.”  Sometimes he calms the storm, and other times he calms His child.  

  • Sometimes He Calms the Storm

    Sometimes He Calms the Storm

    This is the song I refer to in this weekend’s homily. Scott Krippayne, “Sometimes He Calms the Storm.” You can get it on Amazon.com or iTunes.