The Gospel according to St. Matthew, viii. 23-27.
"At that time Jesus entered into a boat, and His disciples followed Him. And behold, a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves: but He was asleep. And they came to Him, and awakened Him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then, rising up, He commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey Him?"
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
In harmony with the Gospel of the day, which shows us Jesus Christ calming the storm, we will consider: 1st, what are the moral tempests we have to traverse during our life; 2d, what is the conduct we ought to observe during these tempests. Our resolution shall be: 1st, to live a life of prayer and of union with God, who alone can save us in these tempests; 2d, to maintain ourselves in the double sentiment of mistrust of ourselves, and of confidence in God. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the cry of the apostles: "Lord, save us, we perish" (Matt. viii. 25).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Jesus Christ commanding the winds and the waves, and, by the omnipotence of His word, making a great calm succeed the tempest. Let us unite ourselves with the admiration and praise of the people who were witnesses of this triumph (Matt. viii. 27).
FIRST POINT
What are the Moral Tempests we shall have to Traverse during our Life?
These tempests are of two kinds: the one, public; the other, private and individual. Public tempests are those which attack the Church from one end of the universe to the other. Outside, it is inimical sects which revolt against her; within, it is bad Christians who tear her or scandalize her. In the midst of these furious waves, the Church calls on us to pity her sufferings, like a good son pitying the sufferings of his mother; to defend her by our words, to edify her by our example, to console her by our devotion. To these public tempests are to be added private and individual ones; continual tempests, which attack souls at all ages of life, by night as well as by day; horrible tempests, which often injure the vessel of the soul to such an extent as to leave it only a single plank whereby to gain the port, and which cast into eternal damnation so many miserable, shipwrecked men; tempests all the more to be dreaded because they are more invisible; we perish in them without being aware of it, and we are already at the bottom of the sea when we believe that we are still navigating towards the port. We reassure ourselves with the thought that we are acting like others; that there is nothing to fear where others do not fear; and, possessed with this idea, we live in tranquillity. These tempests come sometimes from without, sometimes from within. Tempests from without: these are affairs which preoccupy us, reverses which overwhelm us, bad examples which shake us, the contradiction of tongues, the clashing of wills and of characters, embarrassments of all kinds. Tempests from within: these are the passions, pride, sensuality, avarice, which make souls perish without their having any idea of it; the senses which revolt, the desires which torment, the imagination which is ill-regulated, the mind which dissipates itself in useless thoughts, chimerical fears, or vain hopes. O Lord, if Thou dost not save us amidst so many tempests, we are lost!
SECOND POINT
How we ought to Conduct ourselves during the Tempests which besiege us.
Here we have three means of salvation: prayer, confidence in God, and mistrust of ourselves. 1st. Prayer. The apostles of our Gospel, seeing their ship beaten by the waves, come to Jesus, awake Him, and implore His succor. In the same way, on seeing the assaults waged against the Church, we ought to pray, and pray all the more, the more violently she is attacked. In our private trials we ought equally to pray; therein alone is salvation. 2d. Confidence. The apostles, filled with confidence, strove against the tempest at the same time that they prayed. Following their example, we ought never to allow ourselves to be cast down or discouraged, but, always full of confidence in God, persevere in resistance, and never despair, either with regard to the evils afflicting the Church or our own wretchedness. God, who protects her and us, is the Almighty; He has but one word to say, and there will be a great calm. When will He pronounce that word? It is His secret; let us know how to wait and we shall be saved. "Mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord" (Ps. xxxi. 10). Whatever may be the trials of the Church, whatever may be our own, let us throw ourselves with confidence into His arms, and we shall be saved as well as His holy Church. 3d. To confidence in God we must unite mistrust of ourselves. The presumptuous man, who fears nothing, who does not watch over himself, and who does not fly from temptation, is infallibly lost. God wills to see us always humiliated beneath His powerful hand; always mistrusting our weakness and the basis of corruption which there is in us; always on our guard against the seductions of the world and dangerous occasions. He who does not fear anything neglects himself; exposes himself and perishes; he, on the contrary, who fears, avoids even the very appearance of sin, has recourse to God, in whom he puts his hope, and is saved. Are we faithful to the means of salvation on which we have been meditating? 1st. Do we lead a life of prayer and of recollection? Do we pray from the bottom of our hearts for the Church, for the Holy See, for ourselves, for those who are dear to us? 2d. Do we not mistrust the success of our prayers and the promise of Jesus Christ: Ask and you shall receive? Do we live a life of distrust in ourselves? Are we on our guard? Do we not expose ourselves to dangerous occasions of sin?
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.