WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:04.559 One of the greatest misunderstandings in the spiritual life is this. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.919 If God loves me, my life should be easy. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.160 Many people quietly believe that. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:18.399 If I'm praying, if I'm going to mass, if I'm living a good life and I'm doing what I should be doing, why am I going through this? 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:20.480 Why is my life so difficult? 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:22.559 Why am I always in a funk? 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:28.640 Today's readings completely dismantle that way of thinking. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:32.399 We turn to the first reading, God speaks through the prophet Amos. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.920 He says, You alone have I favored. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:39.439 Therefore I will punish you for all your crimes. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:42.880 At first those words sound almost unfair. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.159 Because I love you, I will correct you. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.320 But every good parent understands exactly what God is saying. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:53.359 The parent who loves a child disciplines him. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:57.359 The parent who does not care lets a child destroy himself. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:01.359 Correction is often a sign of love, not rejection. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:03.679 Notice something else. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.959 Again and again Amos asks questions. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:09.760 Does a lion roar without reason? 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.879 Does a trap spring without catching something? 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:16.239 Does a trumpet sound without people paying attention? 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:18.079 The answer is always no. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.799 Nothing happens without a cause. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:24.400 God is telling Israel that their suffering is not random. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:25.920 It's a wake up call. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:30.560 Not because God enjoys punishing, but because he desires conversion. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:33.359 Then comes one of the most powerful lines. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.799 Prepare to meet your God, says Amos. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.799 Most people hear those words and immediately think about death. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:44.560 But Amos is talking about something much deeper. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:49.120 Every crisis is, in some sense, a meeting with God. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:02:00.239 Every illness, every disappointment, every failure, every unexpected change, every storm, they all become moments when God asks, Will you come back to me? 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:02.480 Will you trust me? 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:08.560 Because if we turn to the gospel, we see that the disciples are literally in a storm. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.280 The waves are crashing into the boat. 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:14.560 Experienced fishermen think they're about to die. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.919 And meanwhile, Jesus is asleep. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:21.439 Imagine how unsettling that must have been. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:28.400 The storm is raging, the disciples are panicking, and Jesus appears completely unconcerned. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:30.240 Finally, they wake him. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:33.039 Lord, save us, we're perishing. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.560 Jesus calms two storms. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.479 First, he calms the storm inside the disciples. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:42.319 Why are you terrified? 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:44.560 O you of little faith? 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:48.960 Only then does he calm the wind and the seas. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:56.159 That order matters, because the greatest storms are not usually around us, they're within us. 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:04.560 Fear, anxiety, panic, despair, those storms can continue even after circumstances improve. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.680 Jesus wants to calm the heart before he calms the weather. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:13.520 Sometimes he does not calm the external storm. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.159 Sometimes he heals the illness. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:18.319 Sometimes he resolves the problem. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:22.400 Sometimes he opens the door we thought was permanently closed. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:29.840 But there are other times when he allows the storms to continue because something even greater is about to happen. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.319 He's teaching us to trust him. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:38.400 The disciples were exactly where Jesus wanted them to be. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:41.759 They were in the boat because they had followed him. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:47.599 Obedience does not spare them from the storm, neither will it spare us. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:51.919 Following Christ does not guarantee a storm-free life. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.719 It guarantees that Christ is in the boat. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:56.960 And that changes everything. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:01.599 Because the question then is not whether storms will come, they will come. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:11.759 The real question is whether we will panic like the disciples, or will we trust the one whom even the winds and the seas obey? 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:17.120 Because when Christ is in the boat, no storm has the final word. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:18.240 Amen.