Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 14, 22-33
After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to him in reply,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.”
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.”
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A Christian’s process
1. A moment of prayer. This is what we see in today’s Gospel. Jesus took his time to talk with his Father, God. There must always be a time for you to walk away from the crowd in order to speak with God alone. Sometimes you might find that difficult to do; you might even feel upset or distressed because you do not dare leave those around you on their own. You want to stay in order to be in control, and it is often hard to let go of that control. But you need to let go, and it is necessary that you take some distance from others so you can talk to God about everything that is going on in your life and in your heart. Make the time to listen to everything that your Father, God, wants to say to you.
2. Stormy times. The waves are larger than the boat, and that leads to fear and panic. When you see that your problems are larger than you, when you can’t control your boat because your difficulties overwhelm you, then a desperate scream comes out and you are blinded. You don’t even know where you’re going because the stormy situation is taking over. It seems that troubles get into the boat of your life. While the waves violently rock your boat, you desperately start looking for a way to take the water out, so it doesn’t sink. The strong wind changes your course, and there is danger of sinking. In your desperation you shout: “Lord, save me!” because you can’t handle it anymore.
3) The moment of calm. Then, Jesus appears. At first, we do not recognize Him, and we do not understand the situation. He is coming towards us and that reassures us, but everything still seems confusing. You have to wait a moment until you recognize Him. All God is asking of you is not to fear. Remember, “don’t be afraid” because you can face everything if you are with Him. You must look for Him and that’s when you begin to feel a sense of calm. You long to go out and meet Him. This demands that you have faith and take a risk. If your faith in Him falters, you may begin to sink, like Peter. You need to trust Him, so you don’t fall. Do not let what happened to Peter happen to you: in the middle of his walk of faith, he doubted and began to sink.
Don’t sink. Doubts will appear, but God will always lift you up. Trust Him, don’t be afraid. He takes your hand and lifts you up. Don’t be afraid! He will come to you, He will step into your boat and will give you peace. Don’t be afraid because there is always calm after the storm. Don’t be afraid because after all this darkness the Light appears. You may end up soaked through, but you will not drown. You may end up wounded, but not defeated. You might end up with a crashed boat, but not sunk in the middle of the ocean. You might be like Peter who almost sank, but instead he was embraced by Jesus and taken forever by Him. Don’t be afraid!
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
