Walking on Water

Gospel: Matthew 14: 22-36

Peter has the right idea: he wants to be a disciple, to follow the Lord, and to imitate him in all things.  This is the authentic path of the disciple, and we are successful in that goal to the degree that we keep our eyes fixed on the person of Jesus and follow him in all things.  But the minute we take our eyes off him, when we look at the storm, then fear grows within us, and like Peter we sink like lead into the sea and we need rescuing by the Lord.

When our eyes are fixed on the Lord, we do great things like he did: we heal the sick and suffering, we liberate people from the demons that torment them, and we nourish people in body and soul at table.  But when we give in to fear, we then start to demean the poor and needy, we neglect the needs of widows and orphans, we mistreat immigrants and the marginalized.  We sink into the morass of the sea, and we need rescuing by the Lord.

Today is a day for focusing our attention squarely on the Lord and to walk out on the sea, i.e. to do the saving deeds of Jesus in healing, liberating, and nourishing others.  The storms around us will tempt us to fear and to malign the very people we need to heal, liberate, and nourish.  It is a day to reject that fear, to let the storm rage around us while we carry on these saving deeds of Jesus in our world of the present day.