(9/8/2008)
Jesus walk on the water
The theme of today’s gospel is about our trust in the Lord who cares for us. Both Jesus and Peter walk on the water, but Peter begins to sink when he becomes aware of threatening waves. Jesus walks on the water and invites Peter to come to him. But then Peter was afraid and began to sink. At first Peter was confidence to move from the boat and coming to Jesus walking on the water but he was threaten by the waves so he was afraid. Jesus said to him, 'you man of little faith. Why did you doubt?' Peter was saved by Jesus at the moment he cried out for help.
The message of today is about trusting God. Faith is needed as we journey across the water of our life. Faith in Christ is real and deep means trusting God all the way. It’s like giving up all human resources and putting one’s life and future entirely in God’s hands. We may never lose sight of the fact that the one in whom we place our trust is the Lord who loves and cares for us as only God can love and care.
A boat riding the stormy waves is the image of the Church riding the stormy waves of history. The Church is the people of God. We are the Church and we are constantly being threatened by every possible influence, good and bad, in every age. From the beginning the Church experienced all kind of difficult situation. What about us? In our personal journey of faith, there are times when we experience walking on the water. There is a moment when we feel confidence of our faith. After receiving the sacrament of baptism for example, we feel like walking on water with Jesus. The moment of weeding or the blessing of marriage for instance, you may feel the warmest love from each other. But when honeymoon is over thing began to change. There are times when we come across the water on the of temptations, sorrows, difficult decisions, infidelity of our promise as marriage life and all these difficult circumstances is just like walking across the trouble water. For this we need to walk on faith. We need to leave the boat of our selfishness, the boat of our old life and start walking towards Jesus again.
Recall the details of today’s gospel. Jesus has not abandoned his ship. He’s simply been up on the mountain praying for his flock and today he is walking on the waves, coming to the ship. Get hold of yourselves! It is I. Do not be afraid! In other words, trust in me and in my promises that I will be with you till the end of time.
There are times in our lives when the waves of misfortune, sickness, family tragedy, seem about engulf us. There are times when our Christian faith is deeply tried and we feel like giving up in despair. Then it is that Jesus, who loves us more than we will ever know, says to us: Why are you faltering? I am with you always. Do not be afraid. Then it is time for an act of faith and trust, raising from the depths of our hearts: I hope in the Lord, I trust in his word (Alleluia verse)
The first reading reminds us to listen to God who is present every moment. Elijah hears the Lord’s voice, not in any of nature spectacular manifestations but in a tiny, whispering sound.
There was a story of a sea captain. He is an old captain in his retirement. One day he decided to take one day trip to one of the Island. On one day trip the boat was full of young people. These laughed at the old captain when they say him saying a prayer before setting out, for the day was fine and the sea calm. But when out at the sea a storm suddenly blew up, and the boat began to rock n roll violently, the terrified passengers came to the captain and asked him in prayer. But he replied: ‘ I say my prayers when it’s calm. When it’s rough, I attend to my ship’. There is a lesson here for us. If we cannot or will not seek God in the quiet moments of our lives, we are likely to find him when trouble strikes. We are more likely to panic. But if we have learnt to seek him and trust him in the quiets moments, then most certainly we will find him when the going gets rough.
There was a story of a sea captain. He is an old captain in his retirement. One day he decided to take one day trip to one of the Island. On one day trip the boat was full of young people. These laughed at the old captain when they say him saying a prayer before setting out, for the day was fine and the sea calm. But when out at the sea a storm suddenly blew up, and the boat began to rock n roll violently, the terrified passengers came to the captain and asked him in prayer. But he replied: ‘ I say my prayers when it’s calm. When it’s rough, I attend to my ship’. There is a lesson here for us. If we cannot or will not seek God in the quiet moments of our lives, we are likely to find him when trouble strikes. We are more likely to panic. But if we have learnt to seek him and trust him in the quiets moments, then most certainly we will find him when the going gets rough.
And finally the second reading, st Paul tells us that he would risk any calamity for the sake of his own people. For those of us who are strong we need to help one another. Perhaps there are people around us who need our hand. We need to be the hand of Jesus for one another. As we come to Jesus in the Eucharist, let us humbly as him to increase our faith and hope that we may become stronger than ever to face and to cross the 'trouble water' of life.
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