Dear friends,
The episode of Jesus walking on the water reveals to His disciples His divine nature and His power that out passes every other dominions and forces of the nature. Jesus stays behind while His disciples enter in the boat and start the crossing. They are alone and unaware of the presence of the Lord who accompanies them on the journey. Then comes the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise: behold I am always with you to the end of the times.
You and I have at one or several circumstances experienced despair, fear and worries that led us to imagine the absence of God around us. Time and again we felt alone and powerless. Like the apostles, we face the waves of life in the world, and these sometimes blind us. They bring the dark and foggy time of the sea. Even though we may not have uttered the same exact words of Peter to the Lord, “If it is you, command me to come to you on the water,” we may have said the following at least once in our life: “Lord, if you are truly there, please show yourself to me and help me.”
One thing is required to be able to walk with him on the water: faith. This is what strengthens our trust and allows us to be closer to Him. Peter is unable even to walk to Him when He calls him. You and I are shown our own brokenness and inability to respond to God’s call without God’s grace. When he calls us, He provides the grace and strength to respond. Amidst the challenges of our life, we are reminded that we have to keep our eyes on the Lord and surrender to Him. When we cry out to Him, He always listens to us and responds to our prayers and requests. It takes trust and faith from on our part to be able to journey with Him.
Today, we are invited to investigate our own life in order to discover the waves and fog that cover our pilgrimage and refrain us from seeing the Lord besides us. Let us then cry out to Him and ask Him to increase our faith in His presence around us. This presence is what we celebrate here in the Eucharist. As we receive Him with faith and devotion, we let Him take up the journey with us, surround us with His care and protection.
Relying on His love and mercy, and confident that the Lord is always with us even when He is invisible through our human eyes, let us continue to pray for one another and for our parish family.
Blessings and peace to you all!
Fr. Emery