There is a great deal of chaos and confusion in our country today. We are more divided than we have been in recent history and we seemed to have lost our sense of civility and basic respect for our fellow human beings. There is name-calling and fingers pointed in blame for our current problems.
All of this is causing a feeling of helplessness and despair in a great many people.
So, at this time when our souls are aching, how do we pray? How do we talk to God, and what do we ask of Him? It is a time when we might look to our faith leaders — maybe not for answers, but for guidance.
Over the next few weeks, members of Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters will offer their thoughts on how we can turn to our personal faith to help us through turbulent times.
This week, Sister Lucille Martinez offers her reflection.
For those seeking to continue in their journey of prayer, OLVM holds weekly “Wednesdays for the World” at 7 p.m. each Wednesday in the OLV Chapel. All are welcome.
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By Sister Lucille Martinez
The image that came to mind when we talk about the turbulence, the raging storms, the helplessness we might feel as we listen to the media day after day and wonder when will this take a turn for the betterment of all those who are suffering from the shutdown, the humanitarian crisis at the border, the ineptitude of some of our elected leaders.
The image was of the apostles in the boat as they find themselves in the midst of a raging storm. They did not recognize Jesus as he walked toward them, just like we sometimes don’t recognize the Divine Presence in our daily life.
We might ask ourselves why didn’t the apostles recognize Jesus and why don’t we recognize Jesus in our life when we are fighting our own storms? Jesus gives us the example in his life on how to deal with our chaos and storms. In the scriptures we read how he “went up the mountain to pray.”
Getting away from our daily routine is a human necessity. Human persons were made for rhythms of silence and solitude so we can reap the benefit of finding our soul, asking ourselves those deep questions we sometimes avoid because of the noise in our life. We need the space to discover what in my life needs refocusing?
The goal of these rhythms is to create a context so we can hear and respond to the Divine Presence in our daily life. Short, daily stretches of silence, solitude, and prayer will help us to hear the voice we all long to hear in our storms of life, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.”