"A violent storm came up on the lake, and the boat began to be swamped by the waves. Jesus was sleeping soundly, so they made their way toward him and woke him: ‘Lord, save us! We are lost!’" (Mt. 8:24-25)

Jesus made a promise of perpetual protection to His Church, in the person of St. Peter: "You are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build my church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it." (Mt. 8:18)

Tradition unites in one idea, The Church and The Bark of Peter. The image of the ‘Bark of Peter’ is a boat in the midst of a rough sea while the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome -- the Holy Father -- leads her and guides her.

The final victory of Christ over the evil forces in this world is a sure bet... even though today we see the waves of evil continue to beat against the Bark of Peter -- in many respects, harder than ever -- the Church shall prevail.

This storm undermines the weak faith of many; the storm shakes the piety that unites them to God through the scandal of sin; the storm cuts off their love, in the truest sense of the word; this storm drags Church leadership before the watchful eyes of cameras for dirty deeds done, or for some false accusations for dirty deeds never done.

Christ not only left the Church in the hands of Peter... He left it in our hands as well. We best be courageous and recognize that Christ is indeed in control. "What sort of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?" (27)

Psalm 10: Break the strength of the wicked and of the evildoer, strengthen the heart of the afflicted.