STORM

July 1, 2025 Canada Day Tuesday within the 13th week in Ordinary Time Year C Matthew 8:23–27 There was a time in my life when I felt like I was doing everything right. I was following Jesus, staying faithful to prayer, serving where I was called—and yet, suddenly, I found myself in the middle of a storm. It came without warning: fear, confusion, doubts I never expected, and silence from heaven that felt deafening. Today’s Gospel scene felt all too real. I was in the boat. I was drowning. And Jesus felt asleep. That’s when I learned this hard truth: the storm is part of the journey. Even when you walk with Jesus, storms still come. But they come with a purpose—to reveal the depth of your faith, the strength of your trust, and the reality of your relationship with God. I used to think faith meant fighting harder, praying louder, or fixing everything fast. But then I looked at Jesus in the boat—asleep. While the disciples were panicking, He was resting. It wasn’t that He didn’t care—it was that He was at peace. That image struck me deeply. I realized I didn’t need to match the chaos around me. I needed to sleep like Jesus—to rest in God, even when everything around me screamed otherwise. Faith, I’ve learned, sometimes looks like surrender. It means saying, “Lord, I don’t understand, but I trust You’re still in control.” And that’s when peace came—not because the storm disappeared immediately, but because I knew I was safe. Safe not from pain, but from despair. Safe not from loss, but from hopelessness. Jesus stood up in the boat then, and He still stands up in our lives now. He speaks calm into our chaos. I look back at that storm now not with fear, but with gratitude. It taught me to respond with trust, not terror. Because when you trust in the Lord—not in the absence of storms, but in the presence of the Savior—you are truly, deeply, and eternally safe. NB: On this Canada Day, I thank God for the gift of this country that welcomed me, shaped me, and gave me new ground to serve. May we continue to grow as a nation rooted in peace, compassion, and unity. Let us not only celebrate our freedoms—but use them to lift others up. God bless Canada, and may we always walk humbly with Jesus. Blessings Fr. Jhack