Overview:
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
A Reflection for Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Peter said to him in reply,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.”
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.” (Mt 14:28-33)
Find today’s readings here.
A peek behind the curtain on these reflections: In almost every case, our writing assignments are disseminated randomly. We don’t get to choose which readings we write on. Readings like today’s are, to be frank, the kind I tend to dread. It has nothing to do with the substance or meaning behind them; I have no problem with Jesus’ miraculous ability to walk on water as a concept. But when I open up my assignment and see that I have a passage like this one, I worry that all that can be said about this memorable miracle has already been said—many times over, and by others who can comment much more effectively than I can.
The truth is that I can’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to such a well-known Gospel story. But we can try to revisit it together with open eyes, hoping that something new or something helpful for today will strike us.
As I pray with this passage today, I am less focused on Jesus than I am on Peter. (After all, Peter and I have much more in common.) But I think he’s catching my attention because when I conjure up this passage in my head, I think I often forget that he walks on water, too.
The miracle is a memorable, visible sign of Jesus’ divine power. He holds dominion even over a force as mighty as the ocean. Nothing is impossible for God. But in this story we see that Jesus does not hoard that power. In fact, we see that divine might goes one step further: With God’s help, nothing is impossible for Peter.
Peter stumbles only when he fears, when he doubts. It is so difficult for him to conceptualize that he is defying the laws of nature and the limits of humanity. But what does he do? He calls out to Jesus, and Jesus is there to hold his hand. With that support, Peter stumbles but doesn’t fall. He is down but not out. He can’t clearly see the way ahead, but he overcomes.
Perhaps we can spend some time today noticing when we give in to our tendency to doubt and to fear. When we do catch ourselves falling into that habit, can we counteract by reaching out for Christ to catch us? By doing so, we can not only notice the presence of miracles in our daily lives; we can even participate in them, leaning on God as he makes beautiful things happen.
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