Thursday, March 14 : Saint Augustine

With the Lord’s grace, I am going to talk to you about today’s gospel. With God’s help, I also want to encourage you not to let faith sleep in your hearts in the midst of the storms and swells of this world. Without any doubt, the Lord Jesus Christ exercised his power over sleep no less than over death, and when he was sailing on the lake, the Almighty could not succumb to sleep if he did not want to do so. If you think he did not have this power, it is because Christ is asleep in you. If on the contrary, Christ is awake in you, your faith is also awake. The apostle Paul said: “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Eph 3:17) So Christ’s sleep is the sign of a mystery. The people in the boat represent the souls that go through the life of this world on the wood of the cross. Furthermore, the boat is a figure of the Church. Yes, truly, all the faithful are temples where God dwells, and the heart of each one of them is a boat sailing on the sea. It cannot go down if the mind maintains good thoughts. You have been insulted: it is the wind that is whipping you. You became angry: it is the rising tide. Thus, when the wind is whistling and the tide is rising, the boat is in danger. Your heart is in danger, it is shaken by the waves. The insult aroused in you the desire for vengeance. And you took vengeance, thus giving way to the fault of another, and you were shipwrecked. Why? Because Christ went to sleep in you, that is to say, you forgot Christ. So awaken Christ, remember Christ, may Christ awaken in you. Think of him.
maronite readings – rosary,team