In Spanish, we have a saying that goes: “Después de la tempestad, viene la calma.” Translated, this saying states that, “After a storm comes a calm.” We use this saying to console or to encourage a person who is going through a rough moment in life, inviting them to see that after a time of turmoil, difficulties and suffering there always follows a time of peace and serenity.
I never knew that this saying had been coined by the famous Protestant scholar Matthew Henry, in his commentaries to the Acts of the Apostles. Henry utters this statement as he comments on the time of peace and serenity that the Church experienced after the persecution that led to the martyrdom of St. Stephen.
After a time of suffering and death, there immediately followed a time of peace, prosperity, and life for the Church. Henry’s statement encapsulates a truth that has been revealed by the Lord through His death and resurrection, and which he has manifested as the way for all Christians: tribulations, sufferings and death are the realities that prepare the way for the eternal life gained by Christ for us through His resurrection. Henry’s famous quote serves perfectly to help us apply today’s readings to our lives.
The storms of Job
The whole book of Job describes the many calamities, sufferings and tragedies that made of Job’s life a constant storm of sadness and despair. Nevertheless, in today’s reading we can hear him say: “I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.” Immediately after he makes a statement of faith: “I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you.” Job has been able to experience the peace of an intimate encounter with God, only because of all the storms of his life. It was through those events of death, that he could experience life, and enjoy God’s blessings.
Our souls are soothed
In like manner, the psalmist recognizes that afflictions, sufferings, and contradictions are means through which we can meet the Lord. He says, “it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statues.” Only the Spirit of God can lead someone to say: “It is good that I have been afflicted.” Only the Spirit of God can reveal to a soul that afflictions, calamities, and sufferings are not necessarily bad, but that they can be instruments to experience the calm of God’s presence.
Through the Cross to Eternal life
Finally, in the Gospel, Jesus reminds that, through Him, the Father has revealed to us our destination: Heaven. The disciples are all excited because they have seen the demons subject to him and have experienced great miracles. The Lord reaffirms them in their feelings of joy by saying: “Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.” The Apostles (and us through them) have received the power to experience the victory of Christ over Satan and death. However, the Lord says: “Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” The trials in our lives are truly a preparation for heaven.
To all, I tell you, “Courage!” . More likely there is a storm that you are experiencing in your life: a sickness, a problem in the family, a financial difficulty, fear, anxiety, depression, or slavery to a vice, to a sin. Whatever the storm is that you are facing, I invite you to look at the cross and to see that this storm is paving the way for you to experience the calm of Christ’s resurrection, the calm of His love for you, and the calm of His life in you. See how, through His death and resurrection He has opened the way for you. Rest in His word and be certain of this: “After the storms comes a calm.’
