One
Jesus was aware
One night, Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a violent storm threatened to sink their boat. Terrified, they found Jesus asleep and woke Him. He asked, “Why are you afraid?” Then He commanded the wind and waves, “Be still!” Immediately, everything became calm.
The apostles thought their world was falling apart and wondered why Jesus wasn’t paying attention. Of course, Jesus was paying attention. Fully God and fully man, He knew everything happening around them. Though He seemed oblivious to their danger, He was completely aware of it. In reality, they were oblivious to Him.
Two
Everything obeys God – except us
Jesus didn’t just know everything that was happening around that little boat. Jesus was actually governing the entire world while He slept: He was even controlling the storm, because God controls the whole of nature at all times, and Jesus is God. The winds and the water were obeying Him when they raged, just as they obeyed Him immediately when He told them to be still.
In fact, the whole of creation obeys Jesus. Always. It does whatever He says. We human beings are the only ones who miss our cues and don’t follow directions. Because we forget to pay attention to Him.
Three
That’s why Jesus – the same Jesus who seemed to be unaware, sleeping in the boat – tells His disciples to be constantly on the watch, to be vigilant
Because it’s so easy to get distracted, to lose focus. Jesus has given us the divine instructions. We have the scriptures and the Church’s teachings. We know what we’re supposed to do.
But we get distracted. When the storm struck the Sea of Galilee, the apostles panicked. The same thing happens to us. We become overwhelmed by the storms in our own lives, distracted by the chaos around us, and swept up in the fear and panic of everyone else. We become so focused on the storm that we lose sight of Jesus.
And then we mess up. Because our eyes aren’t fixed on Christ.
Four
It wasn’t just Jesus who fell asleep when the apostles needed Him – they fell asleep when Jesus needed them
Remember? In the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked them to be alert and to pray with Him. That’s what it means to be alert, to be vigilant. It means to pray with Jesus, to keep your eyes on Him and not to get distracted by the turbulence around you. But they couldn’t do it. They were worn out. They’d spent all their mental energy on worrying about what was happening around them, and they had none left to pray, to be with Jesus.
And they fell asleep, and they were not with the Lord in His agony. They missed their cue. The conductor pointed to their section, and there was a tragic silence.
Five
How do we stay alert, awake? How do we dispose ourselves to obey Jesus with the same promptness as the wind and the sea?
By doing what Jesus tells the storm, Quiet. Be still!” We must remove ourselves every single day from the noise of the news, of work, of anxiety, of entertainment, from the storm that surrounds us.
We have to pray with Jesus. Take time to reflect on our instructions, and refocus our attention on the conductor. Then we can know that we’re playing the part we were meant to play. Then we will contribute, whether we know it or not, to the same music that the saints and angels and stars and storms make for the glory of the Lord.