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In these rather turbulent times, I think almost every one of us knows what it is to have a tranquil life interrupted by an unexpected storm.  It may begin with a spouse    saying, “I don’t love you anymore; I want out.”  Or it can be a doctor who says, “Sit down; we need to talk.  The tests do not look good.”  Or it might be from an employer who says, “We don’t need your services anymore.”  Or a terrorist, who says, “We hate you; and we will do all we can to destroy you.”

In this world, the possibilities of painful disruption are almost unlimited.  If we are going to make a successful voyage across the unpredictable sea of life, we need to know something about storm survival.  We need to have a procedure in mind before the storm ever hits.

First, I think we need to know that storms of life are nothing new.  They are not unique to our personal experience nor to our period of history. 

We are without doubt living in turbulent times.  But that is not new.  Almost any extended periods of history have been torn by turbulence.  Our generation may be stormier than most, but I suspect that just about every generation has thought the same thing.

When we get caught in a storm of life, it does not necessarily mean that we are off course.  Certainly, it does not mean that God has forgotten us or singled us out for punishment.  The only thing we can say with certainty about storms of life is that they are a part of life, even for the finest and most devout people on earth.

Being a follower of Christ, leading a good life, doing the will of God does not give us immunity from trouble.  Sometimes the exact opposite is true.  Jesus followed the will of the Father with His whole heart and look what happened to Him.

If dedicated Christians never got sick or had accidents, never lost their jobs or had trouble in their marriages or felt depressed, then following Christ would not be an act of devotion.  It would be a business transaction, an insurance policy against calamity.  As long as we live in this world, we are going to encounter unexpected turbulence.  We need to know that; it is part of the procedure for surviving storms of life.

Yet, we also need to know that Christ has not forgotten us and that He will be there in our time of need.  When the storm of sorrow comes, He will be there with words of comfort.  When the storm of temptation comes, He will be there with words of strength.  When the storm of guilt comes, He will be there with words of forgiveness.  When the storm of discouragement comes, He will be there with words of heart and hope.  In the midst of all life’s storms, if we look for Him, we will see Him; and if we listen, we will hear Him say, “Get hold of yourselves.  It is I.  Do not be afraid.”

But so often, we are like the disciples in that we do not recognize Him when He comes.  Our problem is that He comes in such simple ways that sometimes we don’t see Him at all.  The support of family and friends, the loving counsel of a teacher, the sacraments of the Church, just the sense of His presence, these are the ways He comes to us when we need Him most.

In these most turbulent times, we pray that when the storms of life are raging, that Jesus would stand by us.  We know He will stand by us, and His presence will enable us to survive the storms of life.