Cycle A - Year I:  

13 August 2023: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        1 Kings 19:9, 11-13

Second Reading:   Romans 9:1-5

Gospel:  Please Read  Matthew 14:22-33 

"Take courage,... do not be afraid."

Can humans walk on water? In our history only two have done that, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and by His power, the apostles Peter. In the case of Peter, it is considered a miracle because of divine intervention in human events and natural order of things.    

Scriptures describe God as having authority over the waters. So that Jesus walking on the water Himself reveals His divinity.

 

In this Sunday's Gospel St. Matthew tells us about our Lord Jesus walking on water, and then allowed Peter to walk on the water as well. Jesus granted this exceptional privilege only to Peter and not to the rest of the disciples. Biblical scholars say that this is indicative of the Lord's gift of authority to Peter as the "rock" on whom He builds the Church.

So when Peter asks our Lord to let him come out to the waters is clearly a confirmation of his faith in Christ's divinity. But then, when Peter takes his eyes off the Lord, because he begins to fear the stormy seas and the big waves, he begins to sink so that the Lord needed to rescue him from drowning.

What does this miracle of walking on water teach us in our particular time and situation today?

With our Lord Jesus, anything is possible in our lives, even walking on the water. For the God who created the universe out of nothing can direct our lives and allow us to overcome seemingly insurmountable difficulties and challenges we face every day, including the storms and challenges of life. We must remain focused on Jesus, even when outside factors appear and overpower our own abilities. Because without our Lord Jesus in our lives even our own abilities will limit us.

Each of us in our daily lives experience stormy moments of pains, difficulties and set-backs. We cannot avoid or ignore them as they are part of our lives. Do we feel that we are alone through these stormy moments of our lives, or do we believe and trust that our Lord Jesus is with us through storms?

 

The danger is to believe that we can get through our problems and difficulties just on our own. That is why today's Gospel reminds us that we cannot. Because like Peter, we too are asked by our Lord to "have courage, and do not be afraid." (Mt 14:27) So we are asked not only to have faith in ourselves, but to also reach out and trust that Jesus will hold us and help us through whatever difficulties we experience.  We need to trust Jesus in our lives, not just in good times but at all times.

In the Eucharist at Mass, let us pray for faith to believe in God's presence in both the ordinary and extraordinary moments in our lives. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!