＊＊＊1st Reading＊＊＊

Gen 19:15–29

 At daybreak the Angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and two daughters who are here, lest they perish because of the sin of the town.” As he hesitated, the men took him by the hand and his wife and two daughters with him, because Yahweh had mercy on him. And they led him outside the town. When they were outside, the visitors said to him, “Flee for your life and don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere in the plain. Flee to the mountain lest you perish.”

But Lot replied,  “My lords, your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot flee to the mountains for fear the disaster will overtake me and I die. See, there is a town near enough for me to flee to and it’s a small one. Let me flee there: it is| very small|(that is why the town is called Zoar).   So I will be safe.” And the angel answered,  “I grant you this favor as well by not destroying the town you speak of. But flee fast for I can do nothing until you arrive there.”

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot reached Zoar. Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah burning sulfur out of the heavens from Yahweh, and he completely destroyed those towns and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the towns and everything that grew there. Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt.

Early next morning Abraham returned to the place where he had stood before Yahweh.  He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and towards all the land of the valley and he saw smoke rising from the earth like the smoke from a furnace. So when God destroyed the towns of the plain he remembered Abraham and made Lot escape from the catastrophe while he destroyed the cities where Lot had lived.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Mt 8:23–27

Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning a fierce storm burst upon the lake, with waves sweeping the boat.   But Jesus was asleep.

The disciples woke him up and cried, “Lord save us! We are lost!” But Jesus answered, “Why are you so afraid, you of little faith?”

Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and sea; and it became completely calm. The disciples were astonished. They said, “What kind of man is he? Even the winds and the sea obey him.”

 

Reflection gospel：

“HE STOOD UP AND REBUKED THE WIND.”

Among other things, two things stand out in this gospel episode, namely: (1) Jesus is revealed as Lord and Savior; and, (2) the disciples forget that Jesus is with them. These are crucial in their life of faith. What happened to the disciples on the boat sets an opportunity for the revelation of who Jesus is. It also indicates, on the one hand, that forgetfulness of the presence of Jesus bring fear, anxiety, and a perception of the uncertain; while the recognition of Jesus presence, on the other hand, is re-assuring and brings calm confidence.

The presence of Jesus is one thing they/we cannot afford to miss because Jesus presence is revelatory. It reveals primarily who he is, but it also reveals who we are before him. That is why Jesus presence is confronting. His presence them/helps us see and confront those things in us that are uncharitable, unkind and selfish. Jesus presence is for giving. And because it is so, His presence heals and comforts. Jesus’ presence is awe-inspiring. It strengthens and propels the human spirit. All these are revelations of Jesus as bringer of the kingdom of God.