HOMILY OF 18TH TUESDAY ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY OF 18TH TUESDAY ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: “TAKE COURAGE, IT IS I; DO NOT BE AFRAID.”
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once [Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” 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.”
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Today’s Gospel account follows the great miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. From the five loaves and two fish, Jesus fed five thousand men, not counting women and children. The crowd is truly amazed. In fact, in the Gospel of John, the people want to make Him king. But He does not like that idea. So He withdraws from the crowd and goes up to the mountain to pray alone.
Jesus is also concerned with His disciples. They must have been excited and are basking in the limelight for being seen as companions of the Lord in this extraordinary event. So, He also makes sure that they do not get any wrong ideas. Perhaps with a lot of grumblings from them, He sends them off in a boat to the other side of the lake.
Then, another miracle, much greater than the first, happens. This time, Jesus shows that He is in control of the forces of nature. He walks on the water, and commands the wind and the waves to stop. This, however, should not come as a surprise for those who already believe that Jesus is God. Nothing is impossible with Him.
What is totally surprising here is that not only does He walk on the water, but he also enabled Peter to walk on the water! Jesus can do it because He is God. But Peter is only human. How is it possible for him to do so? The answer can be drawn from his ardent request: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
These words somehow reveal that at that very moment, Peter is totally focused on Jesus, and his faith is so intense that his heart is overwhelmed by his desire to be with the Lord. This very unusual request of Peter is definitely prompted by the words of assurance from the Lord: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter must be fully aware of the meaning of the words “It is I”. In the original Greek version of these words, it is “ego eimi” – ‘I AM’. This is the name of Yahweh as revealed to Moses at the burning bush on Mount Sinai. In other words, Peter gets the message of Jesus correctly: “Do not be afraid. I AM God. I AM here with you.”
In short, therefore, Peter is able to walk on the water because of his genuine faith and complete trust in the divinity of Jesus. Unfortunately, however, this is short-lived. After a couple of steps, he gets distracted, and instead of fixing his eyes on Jesus, he takes notice of the wind and the waves. So he begins to sink.
There is nothing impossible with God. And anyone who has a strong faith in Him can also do even the impossible because of the power coming from God. Jesus said that: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20).
An interesting example of this is the case of bumblebees. According to the laws of aviation and aerodynamics, bumblebees should not be able to fly. They have tiny wings in relation to its big body. And add to this the heavy load of nectar they usually carry. But they believed in their nature-given power. They compensate their tiny wings by flapping them 230 times per second. So, they keep flying.
Nowadays, there is an increasing number of people who have depression. There are several factors that lead to this health problem. Among these is the persistent fear of failure or doubt of one’s capability. This present generation is easily intimidated by the common challenges of life that makes it prone to discouragement and stress. Jesus now tells us as He told Peter: “Come to me!”
While we are in the world, challenges, difficulties and pains are inevitable. That is why the Gospel today is an invitation to have faith and trust in God. Jesus assures us: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” We only need to fix our gaze on Jesus. He is Emmanuel – God with us. He does not and will never fail. There really is nothing to fear. No wind, no waves, no storm should frighten us, because Jesus is with us at all times. And even if, like Peter, we fail to trust Him sometimes, Jesus will pull us out of the water again provided we call out to Him: “Lord, save us.” He will never allow us to sink!
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