Gospel & Reflection
Gospel & Reflection for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
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 do
Reflection
Friends, Pope Saint John XXIII, was one of our Church’s most popular Popes. He was holy, fatherly, and gentle in demeanour but unwavering in spirit and vision. His unexpected election was viewed by many as him being a caretaker Pope, but John XXIII was no mere stopgap. He surprised the Church, and excited the world, when he organised and called the Second Vatican Council in 1959. He envisaged change, openness, respect, and equality of all people as made in God’s image and likeness. It would not be all plain sailing though. He encountered strong resistance and criticism. Not everyone wanted change.
A certain Cardinal Montini, later Pope Paul VI, remarked that “this holy old boy doesn’t realise what a hornet’s nest he’s stirring up”. But ‘good Pope John’ persevered and in doing so, he helped reshaped the face of Catholicism and brought it up to date in how it approached the world. But during his sensational and difficult pontificate, John XXIII accomplished much because he adopted a positive response to difficult and hard moments with a routine of calmness and solitude in a whisper with none but his God. Every night before he went to bed, he simply prayed: “I have done my best I could in your service this day, Oh Lord. I am going to bed. It is your church. Take care of it.” His was a routine of trustful prayer and it brought him through many storms. He kept his eyes on Christ, and it helped him to endure and succeed.
Our Gospel today recounts a most extraordinary experience in the life of the Apostles, St. Peter especially. They are in trouble and though bravely trying not to allow fear to overtake them, their faith and trust fail. But as it does, Jesus is present, renewing them. Early Christians would have recognised the symbolism in Matthew’s account of the real storm on the sea. They would have seen themselves and their small but increasing band of believers as the occupants, the small boat their growing Church, Peter their leader, and the storm their vicious and bloody persecution by both Jewish and Roman authorities. They were a people living in fear, real fear.
To this frightened community, Matthew was saying that the Lord was still present, always approaching and reassuring them with the words ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!’
In life and in faith, fear can be very real. By our nature, we are anxious creatures anyway and we can easily become nervous of many things, expected and unexpected. We contend with personal issues and, the direction of our society, as it rapidly changes. There is sweeping change in education, science, Artificial Intelligence, medical care, and family life. Our vision and understanding of the human person is also evolving. The wave of our present culture is a storm of self-invention; people deciding who or what they are, and dare anyone question it.
We have strife also in our Church. Pope Leo, like John XXIII, steers our Church with fatherly care and understanding, but faces much vocal opposition both outside and unfortunately, within the Church. We have the challenge of the Church in the modern world, the challenge to be “more with it,” which usually translates as condone everything and speak about nothing. But the Church can never do that. It cannot be silent. We have truth, understanding, and values, beautiful because they are of Christ, unwanted by those who do not believe. We are told faith is old fashioned, our beliefs outdated and yet there is a spiritual hunger and poverty like never before, and many are rediscovering the gift of the faith of their youth.
Friends, in life and in faith, there will always be storms, always much to contend with. The question is though, in everything where do we place our faith, love and hope? To whom do we look and focus, and trust in?
Do we surrender to the discontent, the fears, and sounds of the storm or do we place them into the power, the tranquillity and love of God? One will most certainly sink us. But the other will always keep us buoyant. Let us in difficult moments, reach for and take the hand of God, asking Him to take care of us. We are His people, and we can only do our best, and it is His Church and world, after all. Just ask Pope John XXIII!
Fr. Richard
