A reflection on the Gospel of St. Matthew 14:22-33
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00:00 This weekend we're going to hear the dramatic story of Jesus walking on the sea and Peter
00:06 walking out to Jesus, and then he begins to sink.
00:10 And what are we told in that Gospel?
00:11 It says, "Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter."
00:17 But we might ask, "Well, why does the Lord permit this in the first place, for Peter
00:22 to sink?"
00:24 And St. Thomas Aquinas gives a very good answer.
00:26 He says, "The Lord sometimes allows the strong to be submerged in the danger of the
00:35 sea."
00:36 He means it spiritually.
00:37 I don't know about you, but I've gone through that.
00:40 Not that I'm strong, but I know that the Lord has allowed me to be submerged, and maybe
00:44 you're feeling submerged at this moment.
00:47 What do we do about it?
00:48 You know what helped me to understand this is a great film called All Is Lost.
00:53 It stars Robert Redford, and it's a very simple story.
00:57 A man is taking a trip across the ocean in his sailboat alone.
01:04 It begins to sink.
01:06 He does everything he can.
01:07 The boat finally does sink.
01:09 He has to escape into a lifeboat, and even that begins to sink.
01:13 There's no dialogue.
01:14 It's just the story of how he gets by moment by moment.
01:18 And then finally the lifeboat sinks, and he submerges into the sea.
01:23 And when you think all is lost, suddenly as he's sinking to the bottom of the ocean, he
01:28 looks up, and there is a light on the water, and he swims towards the light.
01:32 And what happens?
01:33 A hand reaches into the sea and pulls him out.
01:38 And that's what happened to Peter.
01:40 Do you think he ever forgot that moment?
01:43 He lived from that moment for the rest of his life.
01:46 That's what gave him the courage to be the great apostle that he was.
01:50 But it would never have happened if he wasn't submerged into the sea.
01:53 And that's why when he meets the lame man at the beautiful gate, as the Acts of the
01:59 Apostles says, he took him by the right hand and pulled him up.
02:03 He does for the man what Jesus did for him.
02:06 Or at the healing of Tabitha, who's dead, she opens her eyes and looked at Peter and
02:10 sat up, and Peter gave her his hand and helped her to his feet.
02:16 Or in his own letter, he says, "Bow humbly under God's mighty hand, so that in due time
02:23 he may lift you on high."
02:25 That's in his own letter, because he's constantly thinking about how he bowed under God's mighty
02:30 hand and was lifted up on high in due time.
02:34 So if this is the moment when you're feeling submerged, we take to heart these words of
02:39 Jesus that he speaks in the Gospel.
02:41 He says, "Take courage.
02:44 It is I.
02:45 Do not be afraid."
02:47 Let those words sink into our souls as we're sinking into whatever oblivion is around us,
02:54 because his hand is being stretched out to us right now to save us.
02:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]