Inner peace

On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4: 35-41)

The stormy days that earthly life inevitably holds in store for us are an opportunity to discern our true priorities. Sin makes us believe that we are invincible, but in such situations we need to come to our senses, asking God first of all to enlighten us on the things we can change, to pray to Him for those we cannot, and, above all, to help us discern one from the other. In this way, God will lead us to have an inner peace that cannot be shaken even by apparently irreversible tragedies, as in the case of St Thomas More who by forgiving the executioner about to behead him, said: "Today you are doing the greatest service a mortal can do for me."