Matthew 8:23-27, Colossians 1:15-20, Luke 5:33-39, Psalm 100:1-5

Daily Meditation:  Matthew 8:23-27

Matthew 8:23-27

Beloved, I have heard this passage being read and preached and I have read it myself man times, I've even written about it yet, reading it today it seems like I was reading if for the first time.  It is so fresh, there are so many nuances, new insights, no wonder it is said that the Word is alive.

Here we are told that You get into the boat and Your disciples followed You. Suddenly and without warning there is a fierce storm with waves that sweep the boat and You are asleep.  The disciples, filled with fear, rouse You and You see their frightened faces.  You look at them bemused and wonder why on earth should they be afraid when they know You are in their midst.  Your disappointment at their lack of faith would have been evident in Your voice. 

In this passage from Matthew we are told that You stood up and ordered the wind and sea and it became completely calm.

Mark 4:36 says that You rebuked the wind and ordered the sea, "Quiet now.  Be still."  The wind dropped and there was a great calm.

Luke 8:24 Luke says You rebuked the wind and the rolling waves and all was quiet.

Matthew, one of the twelve who said in verse 23 that the disciples followed You into the boat now says in verse 27, 'the people were astonished.'  If there were truly your disciples they ought not to have been afraid for they had been witnesses to the power of God working in You through the many miracles You had worked in their presence.

Do I have such a deep and abiding faith in You Lord that no matter what might suddenly come upon me I remain absolutely grounded in You knowing perfectly well that You are firmly in control?

or

Do I allow my focus to shift from You and look at my problem and thus allow myself to get agitated, stressed and disturbed and lose my peace forgetting that all my past experiences of You assures me that I can trust You in everything? 

Are there times in my life when You look at me perplexed and disappointed because despite all You have done for me, all I know of You,  all my experience of You in my own life and that of others I still lack a strong, unshakeable faith?

Am I a disciple of just one of the people?

M--- you are Mine and You need be afraid of nothing - YOU ARE MINE.

My Beloved, I am all Yours now and forever.  Be patient with me Beloved for You know how weak I am.

Daily Mass Readings:  Colossians 1:15-20, Luke 5:33-39, Psalm 100:1-5

Colossians 1:15-20

Beloved there is no love like that of the Father's love for You and there is no love like the love You have for Your Father.  It is the Holy Spirit that binds this love of Father to Son .  It is the Holy Spirit that is the conduit through which love flows from One Divine Person to the Other and to all creation.  We who are grafted to You image You who is the image of the Father.  He created us in, through and for You  and together with You  we glorify the Father  - we are drawn the glory of God through You and we are given a share in this divine love and life.

Luke 5:33-39

Beloved, we are creatures of habit and You put it succinctly in verses 38-39 when You say, 

38 "But new wine must be put into fresh skins. 39 Yet no one who has tasted old wine is eager to get new wine, but says: The old is good.”

We prefer the old ways resisting change.  Old mindsets refuse to accept that the old must sometimes give way to new and fresh ideas that spring from ETERNAL TRUTH.   You are the fullness of Truth and You bring fire and division for there are many who resist the eternal, unchanging truth, objective truth but prefer to cling to the lie of relative truth.

2 Corinthians 3:15-18, Colossians 1:9-14, Luke 5:1-11, Psalm 98:2-6

Daily Meditation:  2 Corinthians 3:15-18

2 Corinthians 3:15-18

15 Up to this very day, whenever they read Moses, the veil remains over their understanding 16 but, for whoever turns to the Lord, the veil shall be removed. 17 The Lord is spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

18 So, with unveiled faces, we all reflect the Glory of the Lord, while we are transformed into his likeness and experience his Glory more and more by the action of the Lord who is spirit.

My Beloved, St. Paul says that the veil with which Moses covered his face still prevents the people of the Old Covenant from beholding God's glory.  It is only when we turn to You that the veil is removed and we begin to understand the power of God's love which gave us such a Redeemer and Savior as You and You in turn have poured Your Holy Spirit on us. He dwells in us and reveals to us the power of Your Resurrection which is at work in us.  It is this same Spirit that enables us to cooperate with the grace we have received through the Sacraments and through which we walk in freedom, no longer shackled in chains of slavery to sin.

It is the work of Your Holy Spirit which enables to transform God's people more and more in Your image and likeness, reflecting each day, more radiantly, Your glory.

Thank You Father for Jesus Your Son.  Thank You Jesus for Your Holy Spirit who dwells in us and makes us a holy temple.  Thank You sweet and gentle Spirit of God for revealing to us the depth of love between the Father and the Son and for grafting us into Christ so that we too may have a share in that love.

How truly do I image Christ and reflect Him?

Have I allowed the Spirit to work with complete freedom in me?

Does my life reflect God's glory which is always at work in me?

Daily Mass Readings: Colossians 1:9-14, Luke 5:1-11, Psalm 98:2-6

Colossians 1:9-14

What a beautiful prayer St. Paul prays for his friends in Colossae.  I too pray this prayer for myself and for those I love.  Beloved, my power of endurance is weak; strengthen it in order that I may endure all pain and suffering with patience, in union with Your own on Calvary.  Give me a heart that thanks You in every circumstance.  I am a child of God through baptism and I have a glorious inheritance waiting for me.  May I never forget the price that was paid for my redemption and may I never cease in giving You the praise and worship that is due to You.

Luke 5:1-11

Beloved, Peter, James and John had toiled all night fishing and they were weary and dejected because they had caught nothing.  You came to the lake and as usual  a crowd gathered hungry for Your teaching.  Of the two boats on the lake, You chose to enter Simon Peter's boat, establishing once again the primacy of Peter.  You asked him to pull a little away from the shore and You sat down and began to teach.  When You had finished, You asked Simon Peter, to put out into the deep and lower their nets for a catch.  I can imagine the look on Peter's weary face as he explained that they had been out all night and there were no fish to be caught that day, however since he loved and respected You he thought he would humor You and let down the nets and as they say, the rest is history. 

We learn from this incident that we need to trust God always, for our instincts good as they may be, must always give way to the will of God.  As Mother Angelica says, "If we are ready to do the ridiculous God will do the impossible."  There may be times when You ask me to do something that does not make sense, help me not to be concerned about human respect but be ready always to do all that You ask of me with the trust of a child.

I am in Peter's Bark, I too am called to put out into the deep and do my part in hauling in the catch.