A good friend of mine (I will call him Mark) called me recently to talk about his travails and his sense of desperation about his situation. You see, Mark’s been divorced about a year, and his ex-wife got custody of their 12 year old daughter, Valerie. The ex-wife has been engaging in behaviors that are alienating Valerie from Mark.
Mark and I speak about once a month (he doesn’t live here), and I try and encourage him as a brother in Christ. Mark left the Catholic Church many years ago, became an evangelical Christian, and then found his way back Home. This return to the Church caused a serious break in his family, and since he is the only one who practices Catholicism—his ex-wife and children are still non-Catholic.
Valerie had been showing an interest in Catholicism, but that interest diminished when her mother’s criticisms of the faith became too much for her. Now, whenever Valerie visits Mark, very few words are exchanged between them. So now Mark has less in common with Valerie. He feels quite lonely, since his children have been alienated by the mother, and now align with her.
A Lesson of Hope From Scripture
Mark carries his sadness with him to daily Mass, visiting the adoration chapel, praying the Rosary and other devotions, and just trying to join with Christ in his own suffering. I can hear that sadness and loneliness when he calls me from time to time to talk.
During our recent talk, I reminded him about the Gospel passage in Mark (4:36-41),
“Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
I told him that the boat is a symbol of our hearts. Those of us who desire to follow Jesus, keep Him in our hearts, where He rests comfortably and finds refuge there. The sea and the wind represent the world around us, which is sometimes very calm and peaceful, and at other times, like now, is quite tumultuous and disrupted. We feel the effects of the sea and wind tossing us about, and then panic and fear seize our hearts. We lose sight of the fact that Jesus lives in our hearts.
The boats used by the Apostles had a rudder, oars and a sail. But guess what? We don’t need any of these—Jesus is our own rudder, oars and sail. He is guiding our lives, even if at times it seems like He’s asleep on a cushion while the storm rails around us! He will not let us drown.
He only asks one thing of us: faith in Him. Faith that He is in our hearts and watching what is going on in our lives. Faith that we live in the heart of the Church, His Body. Faith that God is ultimately in control of EVERYTHING, and that nothing is going to happen without God letting it happen. Jesus didn’t promise the Apostles there would not be storms—but He DID promise that He would always be with them.
Find Peace in the Storm
Mark was buoyed when he heard this, strengthened in his faith, reassured, and feeling renewed hope that through his prayers and steadfast faith in Jesus, Our Lord would be there with him every step of the way out of the storm. He also felt that the Lord was hearing his pleas for his children to return to him. Meanwhile, he committed to hold his love for them until they returned.
So the next time you feel like you’re in a boat that’s being tossed in the storm, and about to sink, taking you with it, consider that a little prayer to Jesus will bring you to the realization that, while the storm rages, Jesus is in your boat, and He is not going to let you drown. Stay close to Him in prayer, take His peace as only He can give it. And guess what? That storm will eventually pass.
"When a storm arrives, do I let myself be overwhelmed by the turmoil or do I cling to him — there are many inner storms — to find calm and peace, in prayer, silence, listening to the Word, adoration and fraternal sharing of faith?" – Pope Francis
Victor Negrón is a husband, father, grandfather, practicing lawyer, former judge, Past-President of the San Antonio Catholic Lawyers Guild, lay evangelist, and Board Member of Pilgrim Center of Hope and A Woman’s Haven. Judge Negrón became Board Certified in Family Law in 1987. As a lay evangelist, Victor has served as a leader for Eucharistic Adoration of San Antonio, Inc., and has been involved with Pilgrim Center of Hope’s evangelizing activities since its early years – formerly as emcee for the Catholic Men’s Conference, and currently as a member of the PCH Board of Directors.
Pilgrim Center of Hope provides events, experiences, and media; initiating a desire in people to encounter Jesus Christ in their daily journey of life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.
