DECIDE VS. DISCOVER

When we were young we just follow where our parents lead us. We ought to be like little children with hands clasped by our loving parents trusting that they will not lead us to a place of danger. This should be our attitude towards God knowing that He will not allow us to go through something without seeing us through it. Just like Abraham in today's 1st reading when he went out not knowing where he was to go but by faith he sojourned. We must also develop this same kind of trust in God for us to get to where God has destined us. This is where the theory of decide vs. discover apply. We can’t say that we know everything. We only decide on what we know. Only God knows everything. In times when we are at a loss it is best to trust God to decide for us while we discover. Amen. Hallelujah!

Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
1 Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. 2 Because of it the ancients were well attested. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. 9 By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. 11 By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age — and Sarah herself was sterile — for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.

The Lord our God is able to carry out what He has promised to do. He is God and Lord of the Universe. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 1:69, 70, 71-72, 73-75
R: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
69 He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David. (R) 70 Through his holy prophets he promised of old 71 that he would save us from our sins from the hand of all who hate us. 72 He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to be mindful of his holy covenant. (R) 73 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to set us free from the bonds of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, 75 holy and righteousness in his sight all the days of our life.

We should be able to look at the scriptures in different levels and senses. We can say that St. Mark with regards to today's gospel is speaking to us a historical event which did happen at the time of Jesus. Squalls are common in the Sea of Galilee because of the mountains that surround it. It is known for its violent storms, which can come up suddenly and be life-threatening for any on its waters. These tempests are caused by the situation of the lake in the Jordan Rift with steep hills on all sides. The cooler air masses from the surrounding mountains collide with the warm air in the lake’s basin. Winds sometimes funnel through the east-west-oriented valleys in the Galilean hill country and rush down the western hillsides of the lake. The most violent storms, however, are caused by the fierce winds which blow off the Golan Heights from the east. If we are to look in the spiritual sense we are invited to stand in awe and wonder at who is this as spoken of by the disciples in the gospel. He is the mighty God who has in his hands the very depths of the earth. He is God. He said, "Quiet and be still!" These are the same words he commanded to the evil spirit in Mark 1:25, Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!" This is the same command to the destructive power of the storm which is equal to the power of evil to the soul. Unexpected storms that come out of nowhere can be compared to the evil in the heart of man. We all know the destruction brought about by tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes. We look at that and see the absolute devastation and helplessness that people experience. No one can control it. The weatherman would warn the people to just run. We leave and get out of there. We evacuate lest we be destroyed in the presence of the act of nature. We treat the devil in the same way because that’s t the power he has here on earth. This is what happens at the level of our souls, it has devastating effects. What does the spiritual weatherman say to us? Run for shelter, get out of there, get away from temptation and stay close to the Lord. How can we look at this in the spiritual sense? It’s like we too are on cold waters and out of nowhere there’s this something that causes destruction and violence in our lives. We can identify it in our interior lives. It comes over us and we cry out for help. There are moments when we say we can’t take it anymore, we’re going down, and all we can do is cry out. We sometimes have this feeling that God does not recognize what’s happening to us. We sometimes ask if God can possibly be asleep. Or does He realize what’s happening. Jesus is in the boat with us. God has authority over all creation. We need to recognize who He is. Jesus is there to help us so we don’t perish. God has the power to bring peace in the midst of the chaos in our lives. We have to recognize that He is present in our lives or in our boat. We belong to Him. We always pray the Lord’s prayer that Jesus Himself taught us. We say, “Deliver us from every evil and grant us peace.” We’re the disciples of the Lord in this boat of life. We receive a sense of peace that can only come from God. He is the God of the universe and has the power to protect us from all anxiety and bring us this profound peace. Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. 38 Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” 41 They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”