Do Not Be Afraid

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 14:22-33

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a 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 Peter,
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."

We are told in the book of Genesis that God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day… and they recognized the Lord in the silent breeze that passed through the trees. The prophet Elijah had the same experience in the first reading today… in the silent whisper he hears the Lord… 

This is how it was intended, for us to walk with God, to be able to easily communicate with God… the hear his voice, to be in union with him and to recognize him… 

But sin entered the world… And through sin we are separated from God, it is now difficult to recognize him and when we do, we can often times hide from him when he passes by as did our first parents… through sin, we are caught in a storm on the sea… and far from God. 

But just as in the Gospel today, Jesus entered the world, he entered the storm of this life and he continually enters the storm to save us. He comes to us, he seeks us, he wants to give us peace in the storm, but all too often, we do not recognize him because we are distracted by the waves of sin and the winds of temptation. Yet, he continues to seek us out. So too we renew our resolve today to cry out to him when temptation and sin distract us. 

We ought also to seek out opportunities to encounter Our Lord in the silence, to enter into union with him in prayer, to listen for his soft voice. Now, We don’t want to escape the world … some religions or practices, many from the Far East, see the world as bad...as something we try to escape. This is not what we want to do...this is in fact a heresy to think that the created world is completely evil and we should avoid it. 

The world is fallen, yes, creation is broken by sin, yes, but it is still good. God still created it… we don’t want to take on the mentality that we must run from everything of this world.

However we must realize that the storm is raging… we, like St Peter are called to step out and live in the world, to live in this storm, but to have such a connection with Our Lord, to be so united with him...so focused on him that we are not shaken by the waves... by the wind of the storm that is raging around us. 

This is the particular call of the laity, to live fully in the world, to engage in the culture, business, the activities of the world, but to always have in the silence of your own heart that intimate connection with Our Lord. 

St. Jose Maria Escriva, really the patron of the laity, said “Be convinced of this: your apostolate, [the lay apostolate] consists in spreading goodness, light, enthusiasm, generosity, a spirit of sacrifice, constancy in work, deep study, complete self-surrender, being up-to-date, cheerful and complete obedience to the Church and perfect charity." 

As impossible as it may sound, all this is possible in the midst of the storm that is raging around us, because Jesus comes to us and gives us the grace to do it. As The Rubric puts out into the deep water of the culture we seek to highlight the ways in which Our Lord is working in Southern Missouri and beyond and to provide thought provoking articles, analysis, and reflections to aid the members of the Body of Christ in fulfilling their own apostolate of living the faith amid the raging storm of the culture and recognizing the many ways Our Blessed Lord continues to come to us. 

He continually comes to us in the Eucharist… if we are blinded by sin and lack of faith we may see simple bread and wine, we may not give the Eucharist the respect and dignity due to the presence of Jesus Christ among us, but with the eyes of faith we see that the Eucharist is Jesus… Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity… who is walking out on the water toward us to save us. As we approach this altar of sacrifice today, let us pray for the grace to recognize him and to keep the eye of our heart focused on him amid the storm.