“Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.” -Mark 3:7-12
We overlook that Jesus was often found preaching, traveling, or resting in a boat. While boating is a form of leisure now, it was not in the days Jesus walked the earth. This tidbit is significant to His ministry and the importance of today's parishes worldwide.
The crowds came from mountain to sea to find Him, hear His words, and be healed. Even while the storm raged just outside, Christ rested easy in the boat. When the enemy saw Him there, they fell in submission—all these stories of the Bible center on Jesus in a small ship in the sea. It is not by chance that the worship space of a Catholic church is called the nave, coming from the Latin word navis, which means ship.
Jesus is still waiting inside the boat, just as He was then. He calls for us all to go to Him, hear His Word, and be healed. The enemy still falls in submission when they see Him there. When the storms of life rage around us, inside the ship, the nave of every Catholic church, we find Christ resting easily within the tabernacle.
Saint Marianne Cope, pray for us.
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