July 14 Fri
Jesus got into a boat with his disciples. And there arose a great storm; the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. Like the disciples, we have received from God the gift of being in Jesus Christ's boat. If we stay with him, we will reach the end of our journey, the happiness of heaven.

But on our voyage through this present life, storms can arise: moments of darkness, turbulence, and trial; or, still more frequently, times when we have to change direction, because we have started to go off-course.

St Josemaría: “If you are immersed in God, things will be only as important as you choose them to be, just as the saints did, because they were anchored on the firm rock which is Christ Jesus.

Thus, we must be with Christ in the boat, with Christ, who seems to be asleep.  Christ’s disciples went and woke him saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing."

“We should be going to our Lord, many times every day, seeking to maintain a constant conversation with him, to thank him and atone to him for the many offenses he suffers. We should look for him all the more, then, when we encounter some setback. But we shouldn't exaggerate these things, as I say, because everyone has difficulties – with our relations, sometimes those closest to us; with a friend, or a neighbor, or those who hate seeing us working so effectively in the service of the Church.

“Why are you afraid, O men of little faith? Do you see? He told us before that faith moves mountains, and now he is asking us to be bold and daring. With faith, with the strength of faith, we aren't afraid of anyone or anything; not even of God himself, because he is our Father. For us, nothing, absolutely nothing, can go wrong. As long as we are trying to be faithful, although we make mistakes, although we have to say sorry ‘seventy times seven’ times every day, we have Christ's strength behind us. He is what lasts. Everything else just makes a good story, it's all transitory.

Still, you should know that “one's own mind is a bad adviser, a poor pilot, to steer the soul in the storms and tempests, among the reefs of the interior life…That is why it is God's Will that the command of the ship be entrusted to a Master so that, with his light and knowledge, he can guide us to a safe harbor.”