Faith Daily | 28 June 2022

PRAYER of the DAY - APBA p 556

O God,

who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son

to suffer death upon a cross,

and by his glorious resurrection

delivered us from the power of the enemy:

grant us so to die daily to sin

that we may evermore live with him

in the joy of his resurrection;

through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

GOSPEL for the Day: Matthew 8: 23-27

23And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. 27They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

GOSPEL REFLECTION: Cathy Grant

I’ve always felt a real empathy for the disciples in this passage. The suddenness and intensity of the storm, the boat being swamped. Fear is such a strong, and innate, human emotion.

That tiny cluster of cells near the base of our brain, the amygdala, that helps us define and regulate our emotions, is so easily triggered and before we know it, there we are in fight, flight or freeze. It’s what researcher Daniel Goleman terms an “amygdala hijack” – a stress reaction so significant that it disables the part of our brains that provides rational, reasoned responses.

I suspect that’s what happened to the disciples – a fear meltdown in the face of apparent real and present danger. How human.

Jesus offers us something stronger than fear, something that we can trust to restore calm in the storms of our lives – his assurance that he is always with us, loving and protecting us in ways our human brains cannot fully comprehend.

He will calm our hearts and minds, and soothe our souls if we just have faith the size of a mustard seed. As the words of Psalm 23 tell us, even though at times we feel we are walking through the darkest valley, we need fear no ill, for he is with us, his rod and staff will comfort us - always. What assurance!

FINAL PRAYER TiS Hymn 138 William Whiting 1825-78

Eternal Father, strong to save,

whose arm has bound the restless wave,

who bidst the might ocean deep

its own appointed limits keep:

O hear us when we cry to thee

for those in peril on the sea.

O Christ, whose voice the waters heard

and hushed their raging at thy word,

who walkedst on the foaming deep,

and calm amid the storm didst keep:

O hear us when we cry to thee

for those in peril on the sea.

Amen.