3rd Week in Ordinary Time : Saturday 29th January 2022

So often, people condemn attitudes and behaviour in other people but are unaware that they are guilty of the same things. David had stolen Bathsheba and taken her for a wife even though she was married.

To cover his tracks and have her for himself, he had her husband killed. He sat on his throne feeling all- powerful. But Nathan, the prophet, confronted him. He told a parable about a man who had stolen a little lamb belonging to another man and left him with nothing.

King David became angry and said that the man who had done this should die. Nathan pointed the finger at David and said, ‘You are the man!’ I was talking about you! We often project our own darkness on      others. Other people become a mirror, reflecting what is inside of us.

The apostles were terrified of the storm that threatened to capsize their boat. Jesus was unperturbed throughout it all, and when they awakened him, he chided them for lacking faith. He then rebuked the wind and seas and stilled the storm. They wondered who Jesus was and how he had stilled the storm. In the Old Testament, God was master of all of nature, so this   miracle signalled the divinity of Jesus. If Jesus is in charge and can still the storm, why are we so afraid of the storms in our own lives?

Lord, help me to grow in self-knowledge.