Tuesday, August 2, 2022

 Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 30:1-2.12-15.18-22; Matthew 14:22-36)

The incredible story of Jesus walking on the sea gives rise to the claim of a miracle.  No one can walk on water unless, of course, it is frozen.  This account may work on a spiritual level without necessarily a miraculous implication.

A boat adrift at sea well symbolizes the early Church after the resurrection.  It is suffering persecution, false teachers, and other difficulties.  Seemingly Jesus is not present in its need.  But he is watching over it all the time like parents viewing their children with closed-circuit video.  Peter, the Church’s vicar, suffers the same cowardice that he literally exhibited in his denial the night Jesus was taken captive.  The people on the shore, however, appear more credulous as they bring their sick to him for healing.

Such an interpretation runs the risk of eroding belief in the gospels.  Yet it appears that there is considerable symbolizing and imagining in the formation of the gospels.  What is fundamental is not literal accuracy of all gospel accounts.  Rather it is the reality of Jesus having given his life for the redemption of humanity and God’s approval of the sacrifice with raising Jesus from the dead.  For this reason, we proclaim with the disciples of today’s passage, “’Truly, (he is) the Son of God.’” We also entrust to him our sick and hurting.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 28:1-17; Matthew 14:22-36)

A man tells of a revelation during a particularly trying time.  He felt his world crumbling after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.  The night they received the news while locking the doors of his parish church, he stopped to make a plea for mercy.  Then, he says, he felt an arm reaching across his back and a voice telling him that everything will be okay.  How else could the man interpret this experience except as a divine pronouncement?  The apostles in today’s gospel would have known what this man was feeling after their encounter with the Lord.

The passage is often taken as an allegory for the early Church in crisis.  Jesus is risen and ascended into heaven.  The nascent Church, symbolized by the little boat, is having great difficulty, perhaps from persecution or maybe from internal disputes.  The stormy sea represents primordial, destructive forces that always threaten human projects with annihilation.  But the Lord, who seemed to the apostles to be absent, is actually there to help them.  He tells them not worry.  He even bids their leader to act boldly in face of the crisis.

Just as much as hurricanes and earthquakes threaten the order of creation, accidents and diseases lurk among us.  We need not hesitate to call on the Lord for protection.  But let us not forget to thank him when the clouds break, the sun shines, and we feel as free as butterflies.  

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Memorial of Saint Dominic Guzman, priest

(Numbers 12:1-13; Matthew 14:22-36)

The Chicago archdiocese used to be the largest in the United States.  Churches were found in almost every neighborhood, and the faithful packed them on Sundays.  It is a different story today.  Many parishes lack a resident pastor, and whole pews go empty during Sunday mass.  The Church there, as in many dioceses in North America and Europe, is experiencing crisis.  The situation is anticipated in today’s gospel.

The boatful of disciples being tossed about by the waves represents the Church after Jesus’ resurrection.  It is suffering persecution and rejection by the Jews in Israel.  Mission activity is more successful but not necessarily easier.  Preachers like St. Paul undergo supreme hardship in preaching the gospel in faraway places.  The reading shows Jesus coming to the aid of his Church.  He saves his head disciple from drowning and brings peace to the threatening elements.

St. Dominic lived in another time of pastoral challenge.  Catholics of southern France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were abandoning the church because of the bad example of some of the clergy.  At the same time they were accepting an old heresy called Manicheanism which held that all material things are bad and all spiritual things are good.  Dominic took up the challenge.  He put his faith in the Lord of the gospels, preached the goodness of all creation, and lived simply and joyfully.  His efforts, assisted by the same Lord, gradually won back many of those who had fallen-away.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Memorial of Saint John Vianney, priest

(Jeremiah 28:1-17; Matthew 14:22-36)

A man tells of a particularly trying time.  His wife was just diagnosed with cancer, and he felt his world crumbling.  He had the responsibility of closing his parish church every night and this night he stopped in his rounds with a plea for mercy.  Then, he says, he felt what seemed like an arm grasping him around the back and a voice telling him that everything will be okay, not to worry.  How else could the man interpret this experience except as a divine intervention?  He felt like the apostles in today’s gospel after seeing the Lord Jesus.

The passage is often taken as an allegory for the early Church in crisis.  Jesus is risen and ascended into heaven.  The nascent Church, symbolized by the little boat, is having great difficulty, perhaps from persecution or maybe from internal disputes.  The stormy sea represents primordial, destructive forces that always threaten human projects with annihilation.  But the Lord, who seemed to the apostles to be absent, is actually on his way to help them.  He tells them not worry.  He even bids their leader to act boldly in face of the chaos.

Just as much as forces of destruction are constantly threatening the order of creation, we should realize that Jesus, whom Peter rightly identifies in the passage as “Lord,” stands on guard.  He will help us, but let us not forget in our distress to call on him.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 30:1-2.12-15.18-22; Matthew 14:22-36)

With the war in Syria spreading the Christian minority lives in fear. Not long along the Chaldean Catholic bishop of Aleppo told how Christians fear anarchy if government troops are defeated. It is a terrible situation as the rebels, who have gained international support, see Christians as government allies. Like Peter in today’s gospel Syrian Christians’ faith in Jesus is being tested to the limit.

The scene is said to be symbolic. The boat of disciples is the Church; the night, evil; the storm, a particular crisis. Jesus is behind the scenes ready to assist his followers in need. The disciples question their faith, “It is a ghost,” they fear. But Jesus reassures them, “It is I”; literally, the great “I AM.” Peter, always the first to speak up, seeks to go toward Jesus amidst the chaos. But then he succumbs to fear and desperately calls out for help. Jesus does not deny assistance, but when things calm down, he reprimands Peter along with the others, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

We too are not full of faith. When times grow rough, we are likely to question whether God is there to help us. Perhaps it will be in pain on our death beds. At such moments it is critical that we do not abandon our faith by taking a desperate measure like euthanasia. Rather, like Peter, we need to continue calling on the Lord. Like him, we will feel his saving help.

Homilette for Monday, August 4, 2008

Memorial of Saint John Mary Vianney, priest

(Matthew 14:22-36)

George Bernanos’ novel Diary of a Country Priest portrays the life of St. John Vianney. Toward its conclusion, when the priest knows that his death is imminent, he says, “What does it matter, grace is everywhere.” His sanctity assures him that death is no obstacle for the grace of Christ. Rather, that grace will lift him through death like an airplane soaring through a dark cloud into the light of the stratosphere.

Jesus’ disciples in the boat being tossed about by the tempest have not fully learned about grace. Without Jesus physically present they fear that they will perish in the sea. Jesus is never far away, however, and his saving grace surrounds them. They must only trust in him like the sick coming to him for a cure. He is ready to save them.

Matthew, the evangelist, seems to have a symbolic intent in relating this episode. The disciples in a boat without Jesus present may be the Church after the resurrection, now as well as 1950 years ago. The darkness of night has always been associated with evil, and along with the turbulent waters it appears as death-dealing. Church-members must grasp the lesson of grace. We have only to trust in Christ, and his grace will see us through any turmoil.