4th Sunday after Epiphany 30 January 22 Trust
Even a miracle can be forgotten. The passing of time can dull the memory and somehow it all seems further away and less relevant than it was at the time.
This could be said for Our Lord’s miracles as well. Take the Resurrection. Every Sunday Mass is a celebration of the Resurrection, but is it as real for us as on the day that it happened?
That Christ is risen is just as important today as on the first Easter day. Its effects are just as relevant, inviting us to make a response. Christ still shines like the sun on suffering humanity.
Another miracle described in today’s Gospel demonstrates Our Lord’s power to control nature. He can still the winds and the sea with a word.
The apostles witnessed many miracles, but they did not always let those miracles ‘sink in’ to the point that they would remain as permanent support for their faith.
We might say that if we saw as many miracles as the apostles saw we would never lose our faith; but we have miracles in our time too, especially the Eucharist; but also all manner of healings, rescues, and times when God is clearly intervening.
The apostles were not wrong to wake Our Lord and put their request. It was their lack of trust in Him that seems to have been the offence.
This is a person who goes about healing the sick and raising the dead. Is it likely that He would let His chosen disciples and constant companions just drown in the lake?
If ever we think God has abandoned us, that is our problem too. God wants us to put our requests, but not in such a way that we are doubting His motives or His power. If He would not abandon His chosen friends… well, that includes us!
We find a way of carrying with us all the reasons we have for trusting Our Lord.
We keep up a constant interaction with Him. We thank Him for past miracles; we pray for new ones in our time. We pray about everything and everyone. We do not have to know what will happen, or why God is permitting something, but simply express trust in Him.
In this way every disciple should be strong in faith. We reaffirm our faith all the time or we might lose it, as we see other people do.
We cannot always guarantee the outcome of the prayer but we can guarantee an increasing closeness between us and Our Lord; and from this will come many blessings.
Would you accept this man’s character reference? When we trust someone’s character we do not then investigate everything they do to see if they are reliable.
We have established Our Lord is reliable so we can relax in that assurance. We do not know all His methods but we know He will bring about the best possible result.
Our Lord wants us to see Him in that light, as totally reliable. We could pray so much more effectively if we did this. We would ask more and dispute less; we would remember each miracle and draw strength from it, preparing for the next one.
He will never abandon us, and on that assurance nor will we abandon Him!
Miracles can be forgotten but so can the One who worked the miracles, and that is worse still.
We must keep Him in mind, first and foremost, and make that a habit.
Then we will never panic when things appear to be going wrong, but bring the power and goodness of the Creator/Saviour to every situation.
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