Lord, save us! We are perishing!

28 JUNE (Mt 8,23-27)

The Church must not be afraid in front of every storm in history. She must have only one concern, one fear: that Jesus is not on her boat. When Jesus is on the boat, this will always touch the other bank. Does not John, in his Apocalypse, perhaps reveal us that history is a powerful, strong, devastating storm, but that it will never be able to prevent the boat of the Church from joining the other side which is that of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Does not his prophecy end with the vision of Heavenly City reached by his Church?

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them (as their God). He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away.”

The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.” He said to me, “They are accomplished. I (am) the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son. But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, (the names) of the twelve tribes of the Israelites. There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Rev 21,1-14).

The Church has gone through every persecution, every martyrdom, every satanic desire of men to destroy her. The prophecy of Jesus to Peter is always fulfilled for her: “The powers of hell will not prevail.” However, his disciples, are always asked to have Jesus on the boat. But how is Jesus brought on the boat? Making him everyone of his disciples heart of his heart, thought of his thoughts, soul of his soul and will of his will. He brings Christ into the boat when he is ready to be crucified with Him for the redemption of the world, offering his life, always in Him, as a ransom for many.

He got into a boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”

But if our faith is still weak, we can always pray and ask Him to cushion the menacing power of the wind in some way. For the love He will also do this, however, reveal that our faith is still small, poor, unable to meet the threats of history against our own life. Since we are always weak, small, poor in faith, let at least our prayer be strong and intense. If faith is little, He must be awakened. The grace to reach the other shore must be requested to him. But we all know that He does not like being woken up. He wants to stay on the boat knowing and believing that we will never drown. We must reach us to this faith. He asks us it. To us the obligation to grow and to walk from faith to faith.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us of strong faith.