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From the Pastor's Desk: August 9, 2020
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The readings for this Sunday present us with the gift of God’s love for us. As we reflect upon the reading, God’s love is often experienced and expressed in surprising and very challenging ways. In the first reading, we see how the Lord came to the Prophet Elijah on Mount Horeb. For the previous 40 days and 40 nights, Elijah had been fleeing for his life across the desert, escaping from the murderous intentions of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. He thought that working for the Lord should have brought him blessings but instead it seemed like he had only encountered hardship and persecution. But God manifested Himself to give Elijah strength in a tiny and unassuming whispering sound, like a gentle breeze flowing through the leaves of a tree.
In the Gospel the storm began to rage, the boat with the disciples is tossed by strong wind and at this time Jesus came to them in the “fourth watch of the night”. Frightened by the storm and fear-filled as a “ghost” walks on water, Jesus calls them, “Take courage! I am (here)! Do not be afraid!” God’s love is revealed that brings trust and faith. “Come”…these powerful words summarize the mystery of the Incarnation: as Jesus comes into the stormy seas of our world walking toward us and we are all called to get up from where we are, to overcome our fears and insecurities, and head out to meet Him in order to experience the depths of God’s love and care for us. That is what Peter did and what God wants us to do.
Today the Lord invites us to trust in Him, to awaken our faith and not be afraid. The story of Jesus’ walking on the water made His disciples terrified when they saw Him: men do not usually walk over water, so they thought they were seeing a ghost. But they were wrong - it was not an illusion what they were looking at, but the very Lord, who was inviting them- as He did quite often- not to be afraid, but to trust Him to awaken their faith in them.
This faith was first demanded to Peter, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you walking on the water” (Mt 14:28). With these words, Peter showed that faith consists of abiding by the word of Christ: he did not say, “Let me walk on the water,” but he just wanted to follow what only the Lord could command him to do, to believe the truthfulness of the Master's words.
Faith is a great gift, but it is also a great task and responsibility. To live a personal faith as a love-relationship with Christ, it means being ready to renounce everything that constitutes a denial of this love. Faith is one of the virtues of power, infused into the soul with sanctifying grace to allow a person to freely commit one’s entire self to God. It gives steadiness, direction, and purpose to human life. Saint Pope John Pope II said: “Christian faith is not simply a set of propositions to be accepted with intellectual assent. Faith is living knowledge of Christ, a living remembrance of His commandments, and a truth to be lived out. A word is not truly received until it is put into practice. Faith is a decision involving one’s whole existence. It is an encounter, a dialogue, a communion of love and of life between the believer and Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It entails an act of trusting abandonment to Christ, which enables us to live as He lived, in profound love of God and of our brothers and sisters.” (St. John Paul II, Lessons for Living)
On Saturday, August 15th, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary-this year it is NOT A Holy Day Of Obligation. Although this is a very special day in the life and the tradition, I will offer a special reflection of this Feast during the St. Luke Thursday Corner on Thursday, August 13th at 7:00 pm on livestream. Please join me.
I wish you a blessed week as we slowly return to our routine after summer vacations.
With prayers,
Fr. Andy
