155 part i: sunday meditations for the entire year You know when it is necessary to command the winds and the sea, so that peace and quiet may reign within a soul totally docile to Your spirit and most devoted to You, to Your law, and to the evangelical counsels. 2. “And the men marveled” (Mt 8:27). Consider the most stupid minds of these seashore dwellers: They marveled at the miracles of the Savior of the world and were astounded; yet they neither divulged them nor acknowledged Him openly as the Son of God and the true Messiah; rather, they besought Him to leave their borders (cf. Mt 8:34).47 As for you, the same almighty God-Man performed today an even greater miracle in you, as He offered Himself along with His humanity and divinity as nourishment for you while remaining alive and intact. What, therefore, are you going to do? Will you only marvel at Him, together with that insane crowd, instead of adoring Him? Will you beseech Him to go away from you rather than to remain within you, so that you may honor Him by praise and acts of thanksgiving? Indeed, as you were unworthy of the coming of this admirable and powerful Lord, you are even less worthy of His making His dwelling in you. Nevertheless, beseech Him to dwell within you, by saying: “Stay with me, O Lord, and illumine me with light; dispel the darkness of my mind, fill my heart with sweetness. Amen.” [f.21r] 3. “What sort of man is this …?” (Mt 8:27). You ask, what sort of man is the one whom you have received in the Most Holy Eucharist? He is alive, immortal, strong, sweet, and invincible; He is good, merciful, very gracious and all-great; He is gentle and kind; He is wisdom, love, truth, the fullness of all life and goodness. 47 Here St. Stanislaus is referring to the people of the country of the Gerasenes (or Gadarenes), who, after hearing how Jesus cast demons out of two demoniacs into a herd of swine and the herd subsequently rushed into the sea and drowned, asked Jesus to leave their area. Note: This reference to the Gerasenes is different from the actual scriptural quote used fromMt 8:27 where the men who marveled at Jesus’ works (the calming of the sea) were His own disciples.
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