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When it was evening, the boat
was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore. Then
he saw that they were tossed about while
rowing, for the wind was against them. About
the fourth watch of the night, he came towards them walking on the
sea. He meant to pass by them. But
when they saw him walking on the sea,
they thought it was a ghost and cried out. They
had all seen him and were terrified. But at
once he spoke with them, “Take
courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” He
got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They
were completely astounded. They had not
understood the incident of the
loaves. On the contrary, their hearts
were hardened.
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“You
can’t jump the track. We’re like
cars on
a cable and life’s like an hourglass glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button, girl, so
just cradle your head in your hands. And
breathe, just breathe, whoa, breathe, just breathe. There’s
a light at the end of the tunnel, you
shout, 'cause you’re just as far in as you’ll ever be out. And these mistakes you’ve
made—you’ll just
make them again if you’ll only try turning around.”
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Why
would Jesus perform a miracle of walking on water? In order to
answer the question, it is important to sense the feeling of the
Apostles at
that moment in their lives. They had
given up their livelihoods to follow this man who spoke of a kingdom
and the
need to repent in order to enter the kingdom. They had gone out on
mission, talking about him in the towns in the
vicinity. On that mission, they had cast
out unclean spirits, and had cured the sick. They had watched him
perform miracle after miracle, especially the
feeding of the five thousand people, something that they simply did not
comprehend. They needed assurance that
they were doing the right thing with their lives. As the
evangelist Mark comments, “their
hearts were hardened.” And so, Jesus
wanted to encourage them.
It seems that the message of Anna Nalick’s song “Breathe (2 am)” is a statement of encouragement. Difficult situations are reported. And it seems hopeless, like an hourglass that’s glued to the table, so that it cannot be turned over, and so life cannot happen, and there’s no way of redoing the situations. In the midst of all of that, she sings that one must be encouraged—you’ve got to “breathe, just breathe.” As if to say, life will get better. There are many situations of our lives that can be labeled "difficult." Things just don’t seem to go right or if they do, no one cares. We simply have to take deep breaths, turn to the Lord who is walking on by, that is, who is near to us, and allow him to come into our boats as we are tossed about by the winds of difficulties. |
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THOUGHT
What
are the most difficult times in life? Why?
PRAYER Good
and gracious God, we need encouragement in this life. Too
often we want to give up, things simply
don’t seem to be falling into place, and we just don’t know
why. Give us the grace to accept you and
your
Son’s teaching totally into our lives, so that we can have the
encouragement we
need. Be with us, we pray.
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |