greater glory of God and the spiritual advantage of your neighbor.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
Christ the Peace of your Soul.
"Save me, O God, for the waters are come in, even unto my soul." (Ps. lxviii. 1.)
I. In the Gospel of to-day, Christ is recorded to have appeased the tempest on the sea. We are on a tempestuous sea as long as we exist in this world; we are continually harassed by storms: the winds of temptation blow, and raise the waves of our passions and concupiscences. If we suffer these waves to increase, we cannot subdue them, and we shall infallibly perish. "The wicked," says the Prophet, " are like the raging sea, which cannot rest." (Is. lvii. 20.) How many human beings, of every state, condition, and sex, are swallowed up in this ocean, never again to emerge from it!
II. Nothing but the protecting hand of God can secure us. " He alone rules the power of the sea, and appeases the motion of the waves thereof." (Ps. lxxxviii. 10.) He is the peace and tranquillity of the soul, and appeases its turbulent motions at His pleasure; for in the Gospel of to-day, " He commanded the winds of the sea, and there came a great calm." (Matt. viii. 26.) He will do the same to-day in your soul, if you receive Him as you ought.
III. God often permits us to be tossed to and fro with the waves of trouble and the winds of temptation, while He himself seems to sleep, in order to try our constancy and increase our glory. Besides, He is much pleased at the confidence which we place in Him on such occasions. He reprehended St. Peter for his want of confidence
