Weathering Tempests

by: Paige Lim

The passage containing last Sunday's Gospel sums up to Jesus foretelling a multitude of destruction. He warns his disciples about the forthcoming wars and insurgencies, natural calamities, plagues, famines, false prophets, and persecutions. In spite of the alarming things He had to say to his disciples, he still gave them blanket of security; He said, “do not be terrified... I myself shall give you a wisdom in speakingthat all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.” Jesus told them that even if the time will come where they shall be seized and persecuted, He shall give them security. 

God has given us life; however such life is not always meant to be traveled along a smooth pavement with no hints of cracks, crevices, and holes. The wars, insurgencies, calamities, and hardships he mentioned in the passage are symbolic of the fact that life is hard, that life is a battle. Every minute we're at war. God puts us through multitudinous trials and tribulations, but they should not be those that paralyzes us and takes all faith away. At the end of the Gospel, after all the troubles Jesus had warned, He gave His disciples something to hold onto: the faith of being secured at the end. He tells us that it is our perseverance and our faith that would keep us standing; even if we are faced with what seems the problems of the entire world. No matter how hard and tedious things in life may be, we should keep our faith on the fact that God, in the end, will always keep us going. It is in these trials that faith is truly tested and affirmed.


The Gospel hints on signs of future devastations, yet it tells us that instead of dwelling on searching for the signs of what will happen in the future, we should just dwell with the signs we see through the words of God telling us that it is about time to live a life in accordance to God's teachings. If for example, we circumstance fails us and our prayers don't get answered. This doesn't mean we stop attending mass or praying. This is a perfect example of how the Gospel materializes in our daily lives. We lose our jobs, we fail our tests, we aren't accepted in organizations we want, our family member or friend passes away, or we get sick. These trials are what should put us to prayer. By simply spending a portion of our time in the chapel, praying, I'm certain we'll find some kind of comfort or security that we long for. 


In sum, we are made to once again look into our faith. Are we easily deceived by those who wish to deviate us from God? Are we so frail that the threat of destruction and devastation terrifies us and makes us lose all hope? Or are we strong and faithful, so steadfast that with just the assurance of God, we are able to weather the tempests along the way? The third option is what we should be leaning into. Like Jesus said, "do not be terrified." He will secure our lives. We just have to believe.