Intro to Mass: Last week, Jesus taught us while God starts us out as small seeds, he wants to grow us into large trees, trees that will support and encourage others, trees on which others can depend in their lives. Today Jesus uses the metaphor of a boat on the open sea, where the sea represents our lives, which is sometimes calm and easy to navigate, but at other times is choppy, like the rough waves. & the rough waters represent whatever scares, upsets, worries, distracts or paralyzes us. Let’s all take a moment to identify an event or experience that does one of those things. Please hold onto that issue for a few minutes: we’ll come back to it before we close our reflection.
As we join Jesus in the boat with his disciples, we see a Jesus who’s comfortable in the arms of God, someone who’s NOT worried about his relationship with God, his earthly life, or what anyone else thinks. Jesus is very relaxed, shown by his taking a nap in the stern of the boat. Some people hearing this might say: “I knew there was something else I liked about Jesus: he takes NAPS at midday & he doesn’t get a hassle!
But there’s more: Jesus is ALSO not afraid to confront ALL the big-time fears in the mysterious sea of our lives. Like what? Our fear that maybe Jesus isn’t taking sufficient care of us; the fear of drowning & our lives being cut short, OR the fear that paralyzes our ability to apply our faith in crisis situations, because our emotions are controlling us. In good times, we may not even be aware of needing faith: in tough times, faith’s essential for survival, and fear can shut down & actually try to defeat our faith. I don’t know if you’ve thought about it, but fear is the sworn enemy of faith: fears can distract us from God!
That’s why MY question this week invites us to think about: “who IS Jesus to you & me? What role does Jesus serve in your life & your family’s lives? & when you & I are together in the boat, who’s the captain? & who’s the 1st mate?” Who’s in charge? I’m talking about a control issue & preventing a real tug-o-war. Think about it: the person who places a problem or situation in Jesus’ hands at night, but STILL tries 2B in control by the next day is in a real tug-of war with Jesus. & anyone who says “I’m letting go and letting God” but isn’t doing either one 100% is in a tug-of-war with Jesus. & if you or I are still acting like we’re captains in our lifeboats, what does that make Jesus in the boat? Our servant, our valet, OUR gofer? Our Man Friday? WAIT! Jesus is the Savior of the world: he serves ALL, but he’s nobody’s gofer, & no one is sending HIM out for coffee!
So, go back to that issue you identified at the start of today’s reflection: whatever scares, upsets, worries, distracts, or paralyzes you or your faith. Take a moment to check in with yourself. If Jesus is TRULY your empowered captain all d times, take a moment to thank God for this gift. But if you still need to surrender the ILLUSION OF CONTROL, ask the Holy Spirit to help you to surrender to Jesus, for he will help you FIND THE STRENGTH YOU NEED. May today’s Holy Communion in the Eucharist bring us wisdom, so that we always LIVE & allow Jesus to captain our lifeboats. Blessed be God forever. Love, Father Chris
