Back again after a period of not being well. Thanks to all for prayers for my wellbeing.
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Luke 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75
Mark 4:35-41
When I was small, I had an older brother who liked to sleep late in the morning. Occasionally, Mom would ask me to go and wake him up. But when I interrupted his sleep, he would roar like a goaded lion and be cross and snarly at me.
In today's gospel, Mark says Jesus was sleeping in the boat, head on a cushion. He was resting from an extensive round of teaching and healing the crowds. Humanly speaking, Jesus must have been worn out and needed to sleep. So, when He was awakened by His panic-stricken apostles, don't you think, perhaps, that He was a bit perturbed that His nap had been interrupted?
If He was, He didn't take it out on His apostles. If anything, He took it out on the wind and waves, sternly rebuking them to "be quiet!" And they did -- until there was "great calm."
If Jesus was frustrated with anything, it was not His interrupted nap. It was His apostles' lack of faith. He asked them, "Do you not yet have faith?" He could ask us the same question.
O Lord,
when someone interrupts me with an urgent need,
help me to let go of what I'm doing.
Help me to assess the situation,
and help them as best I can, with charity.
And let me have faith
that You will help them also.
Amen.
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo, Australia
