Do you remember this dialogue from Sunday’s Gospel?
They woke Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
Jesus reassured His disciples that, in the midst of the storms, the chaos of their lives, they would find the peace and calm of His order, if only they placed their trust in Him.
It cannot be a coincidence that having dozed off in front of the TV last night, I should wake up just in time to view an interview on national television with Jane ‘Nightbirde’ Marczewski. Jane is a 30-year-old woman with metastatic cancer who has been diagnosed with very little chance of survival. Despite being told that she had only weeks to live, she appeared on America’s Got Talent and received accolades for what was described as one of the most authentic and moving performances of the season.
Here is a person who would seem justified in asking the Lord, “Do you not care that I am perishing?” Yet, as a person of faith, she has chosen instead to embrace hope, refusing to be defined by the difficulties that have beset her.
Our belief in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the power of His Resurrection, is especially manifested by our own embracing of Hope. I believe that the Lord has directed me to share with you this singular example of a woman who gives authentic witness to that virtue which all Resurrectionists hold dear.
Provided below are two links. The first is the recent AGT episode featuring Ms. Marczewski singing her original song of hope. The second is an interview she gave soon after that describes, among other things, her spiritual journey to this point. I enthusiastically recommend both viewings. I hope that you will be as inspired as I am by this witness to hope over despair, courage over fear, life over death.
—Fr. Steve—
America’s Got Talent performance
Interview
