Jeremiah 28:1-17,
Psalm 119:29.43.79.b0.95.102,
Matthew 14:22-36 Full Readings
Ups and downs in our Faith
Today's Gospel presents to us Jesus walking on water after having a silent time in prayer over the mountain. All people were amazed and thought that He was a ghost. However, he tells them not to be afraid for He is the real one not the ghost. This made Peter ask if he would walk on water too and Jesus granted it but in the middle Peter's faith faltered and he began to sink but fortunately, Jesus held him and all was well.
This story can reveal much about us in our own lives of faith but much more of the goodness of God and his mercy as He moves with us in every situation of our lives if we allow Him to. Sometimes we become like Peter, who at first showed greater faith that by Jesus' word, he would move on water but later started doubting and he began to sink.
We often start our journey of faith in Jesus with much enthusiasm and courage to live up to the values of the kingdom but suddenly our faith starts wavering, like the one of Peter, due to life situations and difficulties and we begin to sink. In our faith journey there many ups and downs of which sometimes we invite them by ourselves and others are due to life situations. This is most common but if we don't lose focus and we stay connected to Jesus, He will surely raise us up again as He did to Peter.
This story also reveals God's readiness and closeness to help us when we feel our faith is faltering or wavering. God is always near us and close to us at all times, we only need to stay connected to him and say with faith in Him, as Peter did, "Lord, save me!" The Lord knows the human weakness and acknowledging it in front of Him and asking help from Him is only what He needs to come to our rescue. Otherwise, if we try to look for our own ways to get out of our difficult life situations, He may leave us to sink. If Peter would not have asked help from Jesus and had started struggling on his own, he would have sunk down.
Brethren, let us not doubt what God can do in our lives, let's only follow what he tells us and all will be well. When we go with His instructions, we shall not sink even when difficulties come. Prophet Hananiah who we see in the first reading decided to follow his own ways even prophesying falsely in the name of God and the end result was his death. How many times have we misused the name of God for our own benefit or how many times have we pretended to be sent by God as prophets and preachers while we are trying to satisfy our hidden desires? God is watching us, let us do according to what he tells us. On the other hand let us ask the Holy Spirit to always help us discern true and false prophets so that we don't fall in their trap.
Reflect today on your ups and downs in your faith journey. Where do you run to when challenges in life threaten your faith? Know that the Lord is with us and if we trust Him he will raise us up whenever we try to fall.
Let us pray
Lord you who alone is most loving and merciful, I entrust myself and my faith journey to you. Raise me up again for the time I have fallen and may your Holy Spirit guide me always to keep strong and firm in faith. Amen.
Be blessed.
My my faith always be firm and steadfast
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