Tuesday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time – Year C
In the Gospel today we hear Jesus walking on the water. A dramatic encounter with God involving an intensive manifestation of Jesus’ divine power and presence. The disciples came face to face with the divine person of Jesus, his shroud of mystery, briefly pulled back to reveal his true identity.
At the start of this narrative, we hear Jesus didn’t not accompany his disciples in the boat. Instead, he sends them ahead to the other side, while he stays behind. His intention was to create an opportunity for prayer. He seeks solitude up in the mountains to pray to His heavenly Father, in secret.
Meanwhile the disciples were fighting against the bad weather for much of the night, the wind blowing hard against their boats, churning up big angry waves upon the sea of Galilee. The disciples managed to get across, a few miles from shore, during the 4th watch of the night, which is between the hours of 3am to 6am. Then they suddenly see Jesus walking towards the boat. Their first reaction was terror, as they thought it was a ghost. However, Jesus responds, ‘It is I’, hoping to calm their fears.
As we know, Peter asks to join him on the water, at first things start to go well, as Peter begins to stride across the waves, his every step supported by a miracle of God. Peter shows himself courageous towards his fellow disciples. However, the situation quickly changes.
Peter seeing how strong the wind was, let fear overpower his faith, Peter, took his eyes off the Lord, and he began to sink. All Peter could do, is to cry out, saying: Lord, Save me!
How many times in our lives do we panic and all we can do is cry out in desperation saying: Lord, Save me!
We all find ourselves in stormy situations, sometimes we prevail and grow stronger, sometimes we falter. It is in these times of testing that can show us where our spiritual development is and where we need improvement, to grow in our Christian maturity.
The Lord shows himself being patient with us to, he will never abandon or allow us to drown in the midst of our personal trials.
God is with us, his hand outstretched, ready to lift us up again.
The challenge for us today, is to learn from our mistakes, like Jesus wanted Peter, to learn that distractions and doubt were the reasons for his failure at sea. May we be encouraged, that the Lord is always at our side, we just need to call on him in prayer, by saying: Lord, Save me!
Rev. Fr Philip Wrigley's Blog 