Jesus is in the boat: Homily for June 30, 2026

That’s really what Jesus calls us to do. To really make the prayer of the disciples, not in today’s gospel, but in another one, “Lord, increase our faith. Help us to believe what you can do for us. Help us to survive the unbelievably powerful storms that sometimes come crashing into our life. But most of all, help us to remember that you are in the boat.” Readings for Today.

Jesus is in the boat

Living in Colorado, I’ve had my most significant experience of wildfires. Perhaps, really, I could say honestly my only experience of wildfires. And I can only imagine people who live near the many wildfires that are burning right now in Colorado the sense of helplessness because they simply cannot stop the fire from moving toward where they live. The fire from destroying what is really valuable.

It can be quite difficult for us when we are in a situation where we literally have no control. A storm like the one the disciples experienced in today’s gospel can be just such an occasion like that. Keep in mind that these disciples, many of them were fishermen. It was not the case that they didn’t know how to guide a boat. They had expertise.

And so this must have been some unbelievable storm if it caused them to be frightened. And they’re out of control. They could drown. Fear overwhelms them. But they forgot the most important thing. Jesus was with them.

That, in fact, is the way in which we survive just about any storm, really. In the first reading, the Israelites, Israel, the kingdom, the troubled child, I would say, because it always seems to be susceptible to worshipping false gods. Israel is a problem. And it hasn’t listened to God. It’s turned its back on God. And all these things are befalling them precisely because that’s what they do. They forgot that God was with them.

It can be the same way for each one of us, too. We can find ourselves in tremendous storms of life. I remember a woman I used to bring communion to in one parish, and she had been married to her husband for 67 years. And then he died. She was Irish, and you’ll know why that’s important to the story. And by the way, I am Irish, too. So I went to her house to comfort her, and she kept saying to me, “I don’t know why I’m bawling like a baby. I don’t know why I’m bawling like a baby.”

And if you’re Irish, that is exactly what you fear, emotions. You know, it can be the case in a wedding or in a marriage where if you have someone of Irish descent and someone from Italian descent, that can be really problematic. Because in my home, growing up in much more of an Irish culture, if someone raised their voice, that was a great storm. There was anger. But I’ve been around Italian families, and yelling is simply the way they talk to each other.

When we face a great storm like this woman, she didn’t know how her life was going to go on. 67 years. And she loved her husband very, very much. Even after all those years, you could tell that she really, really admired him, looked at him with love. And yet she couldn’t understand why she was crying at such a sad event. They were married longer than I’ve been alive.

And I imagine how many things changed in the midst of this storm for this woman. How many things were different. You know, the subtle habits that no longer occur. The things that I suspect her husband took care of in the house, that now she has to learn. But the beauty of this woman was that she did not forget that Jesus was in the boat. She knew. She believed.

That’s really what Jesus calls us to do. To really make the prayer of the disciples, not in today’s gospel, but in another one, “Lord, increase our faith. Help us to believe what you can do for us. Help us to survive the unbelievably powerful storms that sometimes come crashing into our life. But most of all, help us to remember that you are in the boat.”

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