Aug. 9, 2020: 19th Sunday A
Aug. 9, 2020: 19th Sunday A
We take many “leaps of faith” in our lives. Take for example deciding to leave an existing workplace for a new job, saying ‘yes’ to a marriage proposal, or starting at a new school with strangers. Beyond the first steps after the leap, we experience a period of doubt and lack of confidence as we face the first real adversity. The trial frightens us enough to doubt our decision and even contemplate abandoning our plan.
Let us look at Peter’s experience in the Gospel. He and his companions were in the middle of the sea in a violent storm when they spotted what appeared to be Jesus walking toward them in the water. By some divine inspiration, Peter requested Jesus to command him to come out of the safety of the boat and to walk toward Jesus on the water. Peter knew that it was humanly impossible to walk on water. Yet he remembered that Jesus was able to miraculously multiply five loaves and two fish to feed more than 5,000 people. Perhaps Peter thought to himself, ‘Maybe Jesus has the power to sustain me to walk on water.’
Indeed Jesus did; Peter did walk on water until he allowed the wind and the waves to frighten him. He was frightened of his powerlessness before the enormity of darkness and the waves which seemed to engulf him. Doubt made him forget the Lord of the Universe right in front of him. The waves and the wind humbled Peter; he realized that he couldn’t save himself, only God could. So he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
The lesson for disciples of Jesus is that we begin to entrust ourselves totally to God when we have experienced our utter powerlessness during a trial in our lives. How many of us forget our relationship with God when everything is going well in our lives? When we succeed in various aspects of our life, we often credit our own ego. We forget the truth that whatever we do well is because of the gifts that God has given us. In moments of great trial when we experience emotional distress and disorientation, we relinquish the notion that we are in complete control. The moments of our powerlessness ready us to accept the power that flows from the cross.
As baptized Christians, we are disciples of a Jesus and are to expect adversity and doubts. Jesus told his disciples, “In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) A prerequisite attitude for a disciple of Jesus is the willingness to abandon our old way of life and to desire to be formed, reformed, and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. This transformation has a purpose; to allow ourselves to be instruments of grace for others. St. Paul wrote to Romans, “For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself.” (Rom 14:7)
Returning to the story of the young woman who was ready to give up her pilgrimage: she was introduced to an elderly Spaniard in a cafe. The elderly man explained that he was once a young commercial fisherman fishing off of the coast of Norway when his boat capsized. He was the only survivor out of a crew of 17. For many hours he clung to objects floating in the freezing sea for his dear life; he made a promise to Our Lady of Mount Carmel that if she saved his life, he would walk to all of the world’s holy shrines. After the rescue, he was unable to walk for 5 years due to injuries sustained from the capsized boat, but he never forgot his promise to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. When he regained his ability to walk, he took his life savings and began his pilgrimage on foot to the shrines dedicated to Our Lady and the Holy Land. He walked non-stop for 10 years, logging 66,000 miles. The young woman hearing this amazing testimony realized that if she was inspired by God to be on Camino de Santiago, she should trust God to provide the strength and grace to finish the pilgrimage. Over the course of 5 years, she completed her 500 mile walk on the Camino de Santiago five times.
Jesus invites each of us out of our comfortable boat to come close to him. “Come,” Our Lord told Peter. The moment we take our eyes off Jesus, the moment when we allow our divine call to follow Jesus to be drowned out by our selfish desires or fear of the impossibility, we regress to our comfortable and familiar lives. Yet, when we obey the command, “Come follow me,” with a decision for a wholehearted life of faith in Christ, we are promised a new life. As St. Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthian 5:17)
