God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life. JN 3:16
HEBREWS 11:1-2,8-19
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
How wonderfully comforting this opening verse is, Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. Our hope is in You and in Your promise of a share in Your inheritance.
Just as Abraham was called out of the land he knew to an unknown land that was to be an inheritance to his descendants, so too must we move out the known familiarity and comfort of our lives into the unknown realm of complete faith, hope, and trust in You and Your Word which is the City of God.
Over and over again You have proved that You are the God of the impossible, Abraham was a 100 years old and Sara was 90 when she conceived and bore the child of promise and from him came descendants of Abraham as numerous as the stars in the sky and grains of sand on the shore in fulfillment of the covenant oath He swore to him.
However, Abraham died before seeing the land God promised him, he, however, believed that all His promises would be fulfilled in the far distant future. This promised land is not to be found on earth. You came to establish God's Kingdom in our hearts and in our midst. A Kingdom of peace, love, and harmony among all people everywhere.
Our entire lives must be lived in fear and trembling before God, striving to be pure and holy in preparation for the inheritance we are to receive through adoption into His family. It is by the Holy Spirit that You have given us that we dare to call Him, Abba.
Abraham, believing in God's promises, was prepared to sacrifice his only son, Isaac although it was through him that God promised him descendants as countless as the stars. He believed that with God nothing is impossible and God, in turn, spared the life of Isaac and gave him back to his father.
The Father did not spare His own, only beloved Son, for love of us. We can hold on to this truth when the storm is at its height and the night at its darkest that God always keeps His promises.
LUKE 1:69-75
My Soul's Beloved,
Zachariah, rejoicing in the birth of his son, John, and filled with the Holy Spirit, burst into a canticle of praise, prophesying things to come and the glorious new thing that God was about to do for His people.
He recalled all the promises made through the lips of the prophets and God's faithfulness in keeping each one of them in You by sending You to be our Savior. You are the new Isaac, the sacrificial lamb that would be slain in expiation for the sins of the world. Love sent Love incarnate to free us in love so we too could be caught up in the love of God and be united with the Father, with You, and the Holy Spirit eternally.
The head of the serpent is crushed, death is overcome, and we are no longer slaves of the Enemy. In You love and faithfulness have met, justice and peace have embraced. Thank You, Lord.
MARK 4:35-41
My Soul's Beloved,
Only those who believe in You, are grafted into Your Body through the waters of Baptism, may get into the ark, the boat, which is Your Church. The curious, clamoring, self-serving crowds are left behind. Faith in You is a prerequisite to becoming a member of Your Body.
It is evening. It has been a long, tiring, difficult day and You are emotionally and physically exhausted, proving yet again that You were fully human and fully divine. You get into the boat with Your disciples to go to the other side - we cannot make the crossing from this side to the land of promise without You, without the community of believers, without the Church.
Mark tells us that there were other boats with You each with the same intent, to accompany You. While still on the water the wind turned to a gale and the waves crashed against the boat almost to breaking point, almost swamping it. In what is typically Mark's style, he does not just say You were asleep, instead, he gives us little details saying, But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. We can picture You sleeping serenely on a cushion. The disciples however were terrified, and fear prevented them from knowing in faith, that while the Son of Man may have been asleep the Son of God was wide awake.
Terrified they cried out to You, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ You woke up and before rebuking them You rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then turning Your gentle gaze on the disciples You said, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ And despite all the miracles they had witnessed this particular one filled them with awe and wonder and they said to each other, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’
May we always believe in faith that when life is at its most terrifying, everything seems to work against us, You seem most distant and the storm and the winds are at their peak that You are closest to us. With You in the boat of our life, with You in the Ark of the Church, You are with us and we need fear nothing no matter how terrifying and dark the night, the wind, or the storm.
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