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Bible Study Notes 9/9/2020 Fr. Abi John

9/10/2020

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Text: Luke 8:22-25

22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and  set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.24 The disciples went and
woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown! ”He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

Reflections:
1. “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.”
Change is the unchangeable phenomenon in life. Static becomes the sign of death, but mobility is the sign of life. Life never ceases for those who believe in mobility. For Christians, even physical death is an entry to eternity. Life can't be ceased; it belongs to God. The text tells us that God always travels with us on our journeys. He invites us to walk our journey. The providence of God is a perpetual promise for those who are committed to follow His path. “God is with us” can be understood when we retrospect about our own journeys, whatever they may be. Traveling with God is a commitment and a call. Life becomes hard when we confine ourselves with a side. Life has many ends and sides which have to be taken notice of to perceive the reality in life. Mobility and openness are interrelated concepts of life. The disciples were open for surprises, and they followed Jesus. Jesus can be conceptually understood as the Truth, the Life and the Way. When we follow the truth, we don’t need to worry because God is truth, and it is eternal. Let us travel with Jesus; travel with truth.

2. “As they sailed, He fell asleep.”
Truth sometimes is hidden. The falsified notions threaten us and spins our life in an unpredictable domain. The miseries in life delineate our committed journey because the forces of the world pose their authority on us as ultimate. But God is All and God is the Beginning and End of life. A faith journey always accompanies a struggle because it is rooted in life and enhances it. True faith never destroys anything but creates hope and peace. Faith is one of the faculties to travel with God and for God. Here, the sleeping Jesus is in the midst of the disciples who were struggling with the wind and storm; this could be interpreted symbolically as the loneliness of an individual or a group who is left alone in the world of mendacious complexities surrounded by fears. But the assurance of God in our struggles is the greatest power to endure the situation. Faith in God is the key to face the threatening agencies at their faces. Let us have faith in God and his promise; let us travel with Jesus; travel with faith.

3. “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
In our life journey, we need to be nailed with Christ. Christ becomes our apex. He is the true gravity of our life and those who walk with illusions and fantasies need to devote themselves to the life of Christ because life has many mysterious knots which keep life a mystery. A devotee of Christ will rely on the power of God and not by his own strength to untangle a tangible life. A devotee of Christ always understands his limitations and humbly submits to the will of God. He also wrestles with God and searches for resolution. Devotees of Christ will constantly work for resolutions and never let the forces destroy their journey for life. We, as the followers and devotees of Christ, are called to wrestle with God together with God in finding the resolutions created by the forces of the negative world.

May God Bless these Words. Amen.
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Watkins Glen, New York 14891

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