Nothing to Fear

There are times in our lives when we can't help but struggle. Maybe something bad happens to us or a friend or family member. When we experience tragedy, pain, illness, or suffering, it's easy to grow anxious, get scared, and doubt that we will ever get through this dark night.

Many saints (like St. John of the Cross and the soon-to-be-saint, Blessed Mother Teresa) wrote about experiencing these dark nights themselves. So having them shouldn't be a reason for feeling lost, abandoned, hopeless, or guilty. They are, as St. Ignatius called them, times of desolation, or feeling separated from the love of God.

The truth, however, is that we are NEVER cut off from God's love. Never. This is what we heard in last Sunday's second reading (Romans 8:35, 37-39). And no storm, no matter how big, should ever lead us to believe anything to the contrary.

Jesus is our Lord and the Lord of all. There is nothing in this world which can overcome or even diminish Christ's love for us. That's not only what today's Gospel (Matthew 14:22-33) is about, it's also what the Cross is about. Christ's love is so wide, so deep, so infinite that it overcomes torture, humiliation, and even death. It should go without saying that this love also overcomes storms of every magnitude and duration.

Each of us have personal experience with the storms life brings. These desolations aren't meant to perplex us, strain our patience or trust in God, or get us second-guessing the whole "faith" thing. Instead, these desolations stretch us and challenge us to learn and grow to more fully rely on the Light and Love of Christ and to ultimately realize (and be fully convinced) that the Light and Love of Christ will never waver. But we only realize this when we keep our gaze fixed on Christ, and not misdirect our focus on the wind or waves of the storm. So instead of telling God how big your storm is, tell your storm how big your God is. Or, as St. Francis de Sales said so well:
"We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

Peter serves as a perfect example for us in today's Gospel. There he is, walking on the water with Our Lord, but as soon as he looks away from Christ and begins to concentrate on the wind and waves, he begins to sink.

In much the same way, when we get distracted by how bad things are, or how much worse situations could get, we get caught up in the storm, instead of being fixed, like a compass, on the "true north" which will help us navigate through every storm and dark night that life brings.

So when Jesus says, "Do not be afraid!" He is really saying: when you rely on me, there is no storm which will sink us, no dark night which will overcome us; we truly have nothing to fear.