A reflection on Mk 4:35-41
By Fr. Azam Vianney Mansha, CJM
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
To journey with Jesus is always demanding because a person has to get out of his/her comfort zone to face the storm. The disciples, who were experts in their field of fishing and who must have known that a storm was brewing, did not say anything when Jesus, a carpenter, told them, “Let us cross to the other side.” It was the order of Jesus to go to the other side, and therefore, the disciples, being obedient followers, simply got into the boat and began their journey. The disciples did not realize that the journey which they were about to begin was going to shake their faith immensely.
As followers of Jesus Christ, when we go through our journey with Him, we also face difficult moments that really shake our faith just like what happened to His disciples. We cannot help but raise questions that need answers!
“Why is this all happening to me?”
“Why is my child sick and why is the medical treatment so expensive?”
“Why am I facing such a financial crisis?”
“Why is there so much injustice in society?”
“Why do my loved ones cause me much sorrow?”
In our painful moments, we can join King David to describe our agony:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
(Psalm 13:1-2)
In all these moments, we also cry like the disciples, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” The disciples, who were experts and knew very well what to do whenever there was a storm in the sea, chose to turn towards Jesus because it was the order of Jesus to begin the journey to go to the other side. They cried to Jesus as if to say, “Now what shall we do?”
Turning towards Jesus actually allows Him to help us solve our problems. The cry of the disciples or even our own cry to Jesus is not a simple cry; but rather, it is the cry of faith in which we turn towards Jesus and say, “Lord, we need you. Please come and save us.” We surrender everything to Jesus and turn towards Him with full faith, saying, “Have mercy on us.” Whenever we turn towards Jesus with full faith and trust, we acknowledge that Jesus is our Savior! We profess that Jesus can get us out of our painful situations and we show our confidence that Jesus can calm the storms in our lives inside and outside of our current situation.
It is good to turn towards God while going through the difficult moments of our lives or the bad storms in our society because as written in Psalm 9:9, “The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” We must not fear any difficult spiritual and social situations; instead, we must raise our cry to the Lord and according to His promise, He will protect us: “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will upload you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Do not forget that the storms of life will pass when we have Jesus in our boat.
May Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, intercede for us to always turn towards Jesus to calm the storms in our lives.