"Words in prayer can shape feelings."Pope Francis commented on this Sunday's Gospel during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square, reflecting on the difficulties and trials of life and the posture we adopt in the face of them. "Today the Gospel narrates the episode of the storm calmed by Jesus (Mk 4:35-41). The boat in which the disciples are crossing the lake is assailed by the wind and the waves and they fear sinking. Jesus is with them in the boat, but he remains in the stern, sleeping on a headboard. The disciples, filled with fear, cry out to him, "Master, do you not care that we perish?" (v. 38)."
"Many times we too," the Holy Father commented, "assailed by the trials of life, have cried out to the Lord: 'Why do you remain silent and do nothing for me?' Especially when we seem to be sinking, because the love or the project in which we had placed great hopes fades; or when we are at the mercy of the persistent waves of anxiety; or when we feel submerged by problems or lost in the middle of the sea of life, without a route and without a port. Or even, in those moments when the strength to go forward disappears, because work is missing or an unexpected diagnosis makes us fear for our health or that of a loved one".
Francis recalled the importance of keeping our eyes on what is truly important in the face of difficult times in our lives: "In these situations and in many others, we too feel drowned by fear and, like the disciples, we run the risk of losing sight of what is most important. In the boat, in fact, even if he sleeps, Jesus is there, and he shares with his own all that is happening. His sleep, on the one hand surprises us, and on the other puts us to the test. The Lord, in fact, expects us to be the ones to involve him, to invoke him, to put him at the center of what we live. His dream causes us to wake up. Because, to be disciples of Jesus, it is not enough to believe that God is, that He exists, but it is also necessary to get involved with Him, to raise our voice with Him, to cry out to Him".
"Today we can ask ourselves: what are the winds that are blowing over my life, what are the waves that are hindering my navigation? Let us tell all this to Jesus, let us tell him everything. He wants it, he wants us to cling to him to find refuge from the abnormal waves of life. The Gospel tells us that the disciples approach Jesus, wake him up and speak to him (cfr v. 38). This is the beginning of our faith: to recognize that alone we are not able to stay afloat, that we need Jesus like sailors need the stars to find our way. Faith begins with the belief that we are not enough on our own, with the feeling that we need God. When we overcome the temptation to close in on ourselves, when we overcome the false religiosity that does not want to bother God, when we cry out to Him, He can work wonders in us. It is the meek and extraordinary power of prayer that works miracles.
The Pope concluded by encouraging us to always seek Jesus, not to leave him in a "corner": "Jesus, implored by the disciples, calms the wind and the waves. And he asks them a question, which also concerns us: "Why are you so fearful, how can you not have faith" (v. 40). The disciples had let themselves be carried away by fear, because they had stared at the waves instead of looking at Jesus. It is the same for us: how many times do we stare at our problems instead of going to the Lord and leaving our worries to him! How many times do we leave the Lord in a corner, at the bottom of the boat of life, only to wake him up in the moment of need! Let us ask today for the grace of a faith that never tires of seeking the Lord, of knocking at the door of his Heart. May the Virgin Mary, who in her life never ceased to trust in God, awaken in us the vital need to entrust ourselves to him every day.
