September 2020
Reflections of God's Goodness
Imagine yourself in the boat with the Apostles that night when a storm came and began to rock the boat. You can see the fear in the eyes of your companions as the boat is tossed around by the waves.
Suddenly, you see Jesus walking toward you on the water! Surely it is a ghost, you think, and the fear grows stronger. Suddenly you hear His calming voice as Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid, I am here.” Peter impulsively says, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.” When Jesus said, “Come,” Peter immediately stepped out of the boat.
We all know this story from Scripture. Can you see how it mirrors our lives today? Out of the blue came the pandemic storm that confined us to our homes and struck fear in our hearts for ourselves and our families. As it goes on and on, Jesus says to us, “Don’t be afraid, I am here.”
He was trustworthy that night in the storm, and He is trustworthy today in this one. Just like Peter, we need to be willing to trust. Remember what happened to Peter when he started to doubt? He began to sink! He let fear take his eyes and heart away from Jesus, and he began to see the wind and waves instead. What are we focused on?
Jesus still wants to heal, comfort, and free those who are in need. Our response is to trust in Him.
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has set me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
I want to encourage you, friends, to put your hope in our unchangeable God. Look to the Scriptures to see how God has acted in the past, how He continues to love and heal in the present and His promise to be with us always. Take time to reflect on these words written by French Philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin long ago, that are still relevant today.
“Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.”
My prayer for all of us this month is that the good God will give us the grace to get out of the boat, like Peter, and keep our eyes on Jesus. May we see in the Scriptures the ‘slow work’ of our God and trust in it with all our hearts.
Blessings and peace,
Sister Mary Ann Barnhorn, SNDdeN
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."
