Nourishing hope with faith

Saturday, February 01, 2020
3rd Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 2Sam 12:1-7, 10-17
Gospel: Mk 4:35–41ON that same day when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” So they left the crowd and took him away in the boat he had been sitting in, and other boats set out with him. Then a storm gathered and it began to blow a gale. The waves spilled over into the boat so that it was soon filled with water. And Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.
They woke him up and said, “Master, don’t you care if we sink?” As Jesus awoke, he rebuked the wind and ordered the sea, “Quiet now! Be still!” The wind dropped and there was a great calm. Then Jesus said to them, “Why are you so frightened? Do you still have no faith?”
But they were terrified and they said to one another, “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Much as one wants to stay optimistic, fear of the unknown always sows seeds of doubt as uncertainties keep whispering to him tidings of woes. Those who hope against hope are suspended in an exhausting emotional state, anxious about what the future dangles in exchange for their perseverance. More often the future dangles nothing but the proverbial Damocles sword – destructive as ever!
This was the experience of the Apostles in the boat. The Apostles did not know what was in store for them that night. Although they were seasoned fishermen things went completely out of their control. Their only weapon was hope. But hope only took them that far. In the end they panicked when they realized they were at the brink of death.
Only when exercised in faith will hope prevail over any obstacle. In essence this was what St. Paul meant when he wrote: “Faith is the assurance of what we hope for, being certain of what we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1–2, 8–19). Hope without faith succumbs to the fear of the unknown. Unless hope is exercised in faith, hope is prey to doubt and is at the mercy of the sweet talk of false expectations. Imagine where the apostles’ hope could have taken them if they failed to exercise faith by waking Jesus up!
The Apostles’ boat experience is the summary of our life experience of helplessness. Look back to the times when you were in crisis but your faith was strong. Results may not have been favorable yet your relationship with God must have grown stronger. But look back to the times when your faith died. Even if hope resulted to something favorable to your cause you must have ended up blaming God. While hope keeps us alive it is faith that brings us salvation. –(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., J.D., D.M.