Is Jesus asleep?

Often it might feel that Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat when the storms of life assail us. But maybe the question is, is Jesus in your boat at all? Or have you thrown Him overboard because He rocked it, rocked you out of your comfort zone with regard to how you live your faith, how you trust Him, trust others? Do you trust Him in the storm? The first reading and the response to the Psalm remind us to keep our gaze fixed on him, especially in the storms, trials and difficulties. In the Book of Genesis we see how Lot's wife looked back to the city they were fleeing and she turned into a pillar of salt. The Lord was guiding them to safety but her gaze, her heart, was elsewhere. It reminds us that there is always the temptation to look back, often with nostalgic emotion, to what we have left behind, to people or places which might have seemed to be good for us but in reality were not. God wants to give us the fullness of life (Jn 10:10). Sometimes choices we have to make are not between what is good or bad but between what is good and what is better for us. The psalm response has us pray: "Your love, O Lord, is before my eyes." In the Gospel we see that when the disciples panicked in the boat, their eyes were on the danger, the risk, the waves crashing over the side of the boat, their gaze was not yet on Jesus until they go to Him and wake Him and He stills the winds and the sea. Peace is not the absence of storms, it is the presence of Jesus. So be patient...maybe when you think Jesus is just sleeping in the back of the boat, He's actually fixing the rudder! (Picture: Yongsung Kim)