Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Reflecting on Matthew 14:22-33
When you find a Scripture text that touches you deeply at one time in your life, pay attention. You have made an intimate connection with God, and now that that Scripture has taken root in you it will grow and surprise you with new insights throughout your life.
I was on a boat on Lake Galilee with 30 pilgrims from the Denver Catholic Biblical School when today’s Gospel befriended me. The priest with us offered this beautiful insight: You can say that Peter was overly impetuous. You can say that when it really mattered he denied Jesus, and then left him as he endured the cross. But it was Peter’s profession of faith that was the Rock (Petra) on which the Church was built. Peter’s faith compelled him out of that boat because Jesus commanded him out, and then, when the darkness and wind terrified him, he reached out toward Jesus instead of back to the safety of the boat.
Isn’t that beautiful? The boat, the most valuable possession for his family’s fishing business and the only place of stability on that huge lake, was just behind him. But in his moment of panic Peter still trusted Jesus more than the safety of the boat. He reached out for him, and was caught by the Master of the Sea.
In the years that followed that moment on the lake I’ve experienced some difficult health challenges. But the power of this story has sustained me, and every day I reach out to him who is my only true safety.
Have you ever felt the loving arms of Jesus catch you?
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I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).
Someone once asked the question: “So which would you rather be, a wet Peter or the guys back in the boat?” This speaks to me about taking a risk with Jesus and really having faith.
One night I was suffering one of my depressions, I looked at my life and thought “what have I done with this life? No marriage, no kids and so on. I felt like Job if it could go wrong it did. And then a warmth came over me and that quiet whisper came to me and said ” how much faith do you have that I am working through these troubled times for your good?” My faith was indeed weak and I felt a million miles away from God, but at that sound of His voice asking me to trust that thing would change and He had a plan for me I just felt like may be I could walk on water.
Dealing with my son’s issues has certainly kept me in a free fall. One year I felt like I could no longer bear it, and that going to church was definitely no help! But then, I decided I needed to finish CBS, and found the summer reading assignment so I could prepare for the year. The book? It was about Job! The man in the Bible who endured the most trials…was teaching me that trials are just a part of life. And God is there to face them head on with me, and take me through it! He always sends a sign to let me know that, and at that particular time, the assignment was just what I needed to keep me going!