Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome
Matthew 14:22-36
In our Gospel today we witness something remarkable: Peter, a sinner
like us, walks on water. That is likely something we will never do,
but we can still learn a great deal from this moment in the Apostle’s
life.
Notice this takes place in the midst of a storm at sea; consider how
terrifying that would be, especially in Peter's day. They were in
little more than a large rowboat, in the middle of a large lake
(thirteen miles long and eight miles wide), no lifejackets, no radio,
no radar, no raft.
Only Jesus.
Seeing Him walking on the water, can we blame them for thinking He was
a ghost? But Peter was able to put that fear aside when Jesus invited
him to walk with Him upon the water. Yet the moment he allowed the
ferocity of the storm to capture his attention, distracting him from
Jesus; he began to sink.
We can be so easily overwhelmed by misfortune, difficulty, and fear,
so much so that we look to it with the same openness of heart and mind
as we ought to toward Jesus: we allow the difficulty to be, in a
strange way, God, having all the power, all the control. Yet if we
have the faith to turn our hearts toward Jesus, to trust Him, trust
that He is God, then even in the midst of life’s chaotic storms we,
too, can walk upon the water.