19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Surrounded by the darkness of the night, crammed into a fragile boat tossed about by the waves in the middle of a stormy lake, Jesus’ disciples are fighting for their lives. But He hadn’t forgotten them. ‘And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.’ But when they saw him, they thought he was a ghost and were terrified. And when Jesus spoke to them: ‘Take heart; it is I, Do not be afraid.’ Peter plucks up the courage to take a daring step: he steps out of the boat and walks across the water towards his Master. However, his courage and trust in Jesus quickly desert him,and when he feels the strong wind, he begins to sink. Lord, however, reaches out and saves him. All of us – just like those disciples – are sitting in a boat, the boat of our lives. Just like them, we believe that the Lord watches over us and that he will lend us a helping hand when we find ourselves in danger.
How wonderful it is to know that the Lord, who has sent us on this great journey through life, is always with us – even when the waves threaten us and the wind blows in our faces! How good it is to know that we are not alone on our journey, that we belong to the Church community, supported by the faith and trust of our sisters and brothers! However, at some point in our lives, many of us fall out of the boat and into the water. This can happen in the face of a major disappointment in life, an experience of betrayal, rejection, failure at work, serious illness, or the death of a loved one. That is when we get the impression that ‘the water is already up to our necks’. In such a situation, just like those disciples, we may fail to recognise God, seeing only a menacing apparition and screaming in fear. Just like Peter, we may regain our confidence for a moment, only to sink back into doubt and cry out as we go under: ‘Lord, save me.’
Peter’s story shows that the Lord also reaches out to those of little faith, saving and sustaining them.
It was He who set us out on this great journey through life. He did not promise us that we would always sail on calm seas and in the sunshine. He did, however, make us an unwavering promise that he would always be with us: ‘Take heart; it is I, Do not be afraid.’
These words echo the promise that Jesus made to Peter near Caesarea Philippi: ‘You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ “Perhaps we need to see in this event, which took place on the Sea of Galilee, the trials and crises of our own faith,” St John Paul II once said. It is not easy to live in accordance
with one’s faith in modern society. “How many winds are trying to knock today’s Christian off. But the Lord is with us – even when we cannot see or feel Him; even when we no longer understand ourselves, when – as it seems to us – we are no longer capable of anything.
He – the Son of God – is with us in the boat of our lives. Through Him, God extends a helping hand to us all. Whoever places their trust in that hand will not perish. Let us ask the Lord today to remedy our lack of faith, so that we may experience the power of his hand, lifting us up and raising us high, and so that through it we may feel the fullness of his life, joy and peace. Let us pray in particular that Jesus may heal our weak faith.