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The 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel story of Jesus walking on the storm-tossed waters of the Sea of Galilee appears in all but one of the four gospels, but Matthew’s is the only version that puts Peter right at the center of the story. We should be grateful for that because Peter gives the story a decidedly human dimension. Peter makes room for us in the story. If you know the Cathedral – or even if you’ve just glanced at the cover of today’s bulletin – you are aware that this gospel story is captured in bronze on the west façade of the Cathedra – on one of the door handles. The representation is small but significant. Look carefully and you will see Jesus pulling the sinking, terrified Peter out of the water. The sculptor, Ulrich Henn, told me why he put it there: he knew people would be coming here whose faith wasn’t very strong and he wanted them to know that Peter’s faith wasn’t always very strong either. And he also wanted them to know that even with little or no faith they were welcome in the Cathedral, welcome to take that handle, open that door, and come in. You see why I say that Peter makes room for us in the story. Peter stands for each of us. We are believers but we sometimes struggle to believe; we can be strong in faith at one moment, drowning in doubt the next. The gospel prayer, “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!” is our prayer. Faith that knows no struggle or doubt is probably no faith at all. So this gospel story, like so many, is a kind of mirror for viewing ourselves, and a source of encouragement – as if to say: if Peter was nearly swamped in those waves, there’s hope for us – hope that the Lord will be there reaching out his hand to us as he did to the drowning Peter, calming our storms, climbing into our boat to sit alongside, gently inviting us to deeper faith as he says, “Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.” It’s worth observing that those words, “It is I, do not be afraid,” or words like them, are a thread that runs through all of Matthew’s Gospel from beginning to end. From the angel’s words, “Fear not!”, spoken to the bewildered Joseph when he found that his beloved Mary was pregnant, to the calming words of Jesus on a storm-tossed sea, to the reassuring words of Jesus to Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration, to the Easter words of Jesus to the frightened holy women at the tomb, to the parting words of Jesus on a hilltop in Galilee, the message is the same, “Do not be afraid. I am with you always.” From beginning to end, Matthew’s gospel is a lifeline for people struggling to believe. But in today’s readings Matthew’s gospel doesn’t have to carry this message alone. It was also in the reading from the Book of Kings. Elijah was in the midst of the greatest storm of his stormy career, fleeing for his life from the fury of the bloodthirsty Queen Jezebel, wondering all the while where the Lord God was. His flight took him all the way to the mountain where Moses had met God long years before. But it was different for Elijah. God didn’t speak to him as he had to Moses -- in a show of awesome power, in thunder, earthquake and fire. No, God spoke to Elijah in the tiniest wisp of a breeze, in a “still, small voice” that caused him to hide his face in his cloak. And that’s where the Elijah story connects with today’s gospel story. The voice of Jesus to Peter and the terrified apostles on the storm-tossed Lake of Galilee –- “Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid” -- was an echo of that “still, small voice” Elijah once heard. And, like Elijah of old, the troubled apostles bowed their heads in silent wonder. My friends, do you sometimes wonder where the Lord is during your personal struggles -- question your faith because of things that are happening or that have happened to you? Things beyond your control: illness, the death of a loved one, the unraveling of a relationship, the loss of a job? Do you sometimes wonder if the Lord has taken a leave of absence from the Church -- find yourself impatient with a Church that seems quick to speak but slow to listen, a Church that always talks a good Gospel but doesn’t always live it? Do you sometimes wonder if God has turned his back on our world as you read the headlines with their daily diet of dishonesty, selfishness, greed, inhumanity, violence? If so, you are in good company. We all are. We are in the company of Elijah, the company of Peter and the apostles. Like them, we believe but sometimes we wonder mightily where God is. With the weary and discouraged Elijah at the mouth of the cave, we need to stand and to listen patiently and intently for that “still, small voice” of God. And with Peter and the apostles on the Sea of Galilee, we need to scan the night sky till we see the figure of Jesus coming toward us in our darkness. With them, we need to cry out our fears and frustrations, cry out with Peter, “Lord, save me!” and then reach out for his hand -- which will always be there for us as it is now: in the Word proclaimed and in the Eucharist celebrated. “O you of little faith,” he says, “why do you doubt? Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid!” Father Michael G. Ryan |
