In today's Gospel, the apostles are in a boat, and there is a lot of wind. All of a sudden, they see something on the water and immediately think that what they are seeing is a ghost. The Gospel writer says that they are terrified. I don't blame them. I would be too! The next lines of the Gospel go like this:
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.”
Take a moment to put yourself in this situation. You are sitting in the boat, cowering in fear. You hear Jesus say, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." You lift your eyes to look at Him, and He looks right back, his gaze penetrating your very soul, and He says "Come."
Come. Come and do what? What is Jesus asking you to do? There is at least one thing that Jesus wants you to do right this very second. The fact that you are reading this sentence proves that. That thing could be starting a blog, bringing Christ to a friend from school, going to confession, becoming in full communion with His Church through the sacrament of Confirmation in the Catholic Church, or even answering the call to marriage or religious life. Maybe you have no idea what it is. Maybe you know exactly what it is and are afraid to do it. You were created for a purpose. Just like Peter, Jesus is calling you to do something special. Trust that Christ will help you to find what you need to do.
Do you remember the next part of the story? Here it is:
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 him,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Trusting that Jesus has a plan in store for you is the first step in doing what He wants you to do. The next step for you is to get out of the boat. While Jesus is all-powerful and can do whatever He wants, He still needs your cooperation. He loves us and does not force us to do anything we do not want to do. That would not be love. While He does not force us to do anything, He gently guides us in the right direction. It is our decision to step out of the boat. When we get out of the boat, we are relying solely on Jesus' divine intervention to do what He wills. The boat represents our own desires, our own will for our lives. And sometimes getting out of that boat will take a lot of effort. It may take time and it might not be easy. The water might not be as warm as you want it to be, and you might not be very comfortable. But as long as you keep your eyes on Jesus and not on your feelings of unworthiness at being chosen by God, your fear, or feelings of uncertainty, you will be just fine and you will be filled with joy. All you need to do is trust Jesus and cooperate with His will. He will do the rest. What do I mean by this? I mean that Jesus will provide for your material and spiritual needs. If you know you need to evangelize to a kid at school, ask Jesus to help you have the opportunity to do so, and He will. If you need to go to confession, ask Jesus to let you get there, and He will. If you feel called to go on a pilgrimage with your youth group but don't have enough money for it, ask Jesus to help you find the money for it, and guess what? He will. If it is in His plan, He will make a way.
However, if you take your eyes off of Christ and begin to believe that something isn't possible just because of your circumstances at that moment, you will fall, just like Peter did. Without our focus on Jesus, we are bound to fall because He is the only thing that is holding us up. How can we expect to succeed in our calling to become a saint by doing what we want instead of what Jesus wants? Just like He says in John 15:5, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." And if you do end up falling, just as He did for Peter, Jesus will stretch out His hand and catch you. He will do all that He can to pull you up out of the water. It's up to you to not let go of His hand. Don't doubt Jesus' power and love and mercy! Those attributes of Christ are the sustenance that will get you through this journey to whatever God is calling you to do.
So, my message to you, dear brothers and sisters, is to keep your eyes fixed on Christ. Don't be afraid! You will do amazing things for the Kingdom of Heaven when you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and are submissive to His plan for your life. Pray that He will make known to you His plan for your life, and trust that He will enable you to do what He wants you to do. The first step is simply getting out of the boat. After that, it's all up to Him.
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