God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life. JN 3:16
everyone who believes in him has eternal life. JN 3:16
HEBREWS 11:1-2,8-19
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
In this valley of tears and uncertainty, sickness and death, sorrow and suffering St. Paul reminds us that, 'Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen.' Faith alone is the light, the anchor, the rudder in a dark, unknown, rudderless world. Without faith, it is impossible to live, to move, and have our being in You. Faith is a gift from God and we have faith because You, my Lord, left Your glory behind and came into the world to make the invisible God visible and tangible to us.
Without faith, life would be terrifying, we would have no hope and be filled with fear and despair. But with faith, we walk in God's presence even if the night is dark and the road is narrow and difficult.
Salvation history walks us through the lives of great men and women who put all their faith and hope in God even when there seemed to be no reason to hope. They believed in God's Word and God's Covenant. This hope would be fulfilled thousands of years later when the Eternal Word of God became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin and God's ultimate and final Covenant of Love was sealed with the Blood of the Lamb and the Holy Spirit of God. We are grateful for their faith and their hope the fruit of which we are blessed to see and enjoy when the Son of Man came into the world not to condemn it but to redeem it.
Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.
It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.
It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him and he had been told: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.
PSALM - LUKE 1:69-75
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets from of old.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,
from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.
He swore to Abraham our father
to grant us that free from fear,
and saved from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.
and saved from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
MARK 4:35-41
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
St. Mark paints a brilliant and insightful picture with just a few verses and those who read, study, contemplate, and meditate on them will never plumb the depths of all God desires to say to us through them. It gives us a model for our lives and an understanding of how we are to face the challenges that life throws at us, often unexpectedly, and unless we have faith in You unless we trust You completely, and have this confidence that when You are present in our lives, when we are aware that Your Holy Spirit abides in us, then no matter how sudden the squall, how great the waves, how terrifying the winds, no matter how quickly the water seems to fill the boat and threatens to drown us nothing that the devil throws at us can defeat us, conquer us, or destroy us because You are with us.
You have spent the whole day emptying Yourself and teaching the huge crowd that had spent the day with You and the disciples. You ministered to them healing them in heart, mind, soul, body, and spirit with the power of Your Word and Your touch. By the end of that day, You were spent. St. Mark says, 'And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him.' Having forgotten about Yourself the whole day You were probably trembling with exhaustion, the disciples saw it and wanted to take You away quickly so You could rest. They lovingly ministered to You. Found a cushion on which to lay Your weary head, and You slept deeply. Immediately a storm arose.
Although they knew You needed to rest fear got the better of them when they saw the winds gather speed, churn the sea, and stir the waves terrifyingly as they crashed against the little boat almost swamping it and threatening to drown them. Panic-stricken they woke You up and cried, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ Lord Jesus, my faith is just as weak. I panic easily, and I become despondent, anxious, stressed, and even filled with terror when faced with difficulty, sickness, loss, and so many other troubles that plague this mortal life.
Forgive me Lord for my lack of faith and trust in Your goodness, kindness, tenderness, compassion, and love. Grant me the wisdom to know that You are always in the boat of my life and no matter what storms, squalls, tidal waves, or typhoons beset me You are with me always. Grant me the quiet confidence to know that You are Master of the wind, waves, death, sickness, and anything else that the devil cares to throw at me and I need never be afraid.
Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ They were filled with awe and said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’
