Our Holy Fathers and Patriarchs of Constantinople Alexander (336), John (577), and Paul the Younger (784)
2 Corinthians 13:3-13; Mark 4:35-41.
Read Mark 4:35-41
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
When we experience the storms of life—our troubles, our sins, our passions—sometimes we want to cry out to God as did the disciples: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mk. 4:38). We can feel like we will drown beneath the pressures weighing down on us and the suffering we endure. When the disciples woke Jesus up during the storm, He questioned them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (Mk. 4:40).
Jesus slept because He is human like the rest of us, and when He awoke, in His divinity He rebuked the wind and commanded the sea to calm down. The disciples were on the boat with the Son of God, and yet in their lack of faith they still feared for their safety in face of the storm.
St. John Chrysostom explains that Jesus allowed them to experience the storm in order to teach them how to bear their trials (see Homily XXVIII on Matthew VIII). It was one thing for them to experience that storm on the boat, but it was quite another to face persecution and martyrdom after Christ’s Resurrection. This event on the boat prepared them for their later trials, teaching them to have faith in God’s protection. They learned that Jesus is truly God and truly man, and there is no reason to fear even death when you are with Him.
May we learn the same lesson that the disciples learned. Whatever physical, emotional, or spiritual “storms” we experience in our lives, let us remember to have faith in God’s protection and know that He is greater than any evil that assails us.