Water Walker

Saint Dominic, priest
Readings for Tuesday
Biographical Information about St. Dominic de Guzman

Reflection:

St. Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Dominican Order whose memorial we celebrate today deserves special mention before we reflect upon God’s word. St. Dominic is credited with being the first to receive and popularize the most widely used devotional in the Catholic Church, the Rosary. However, if the history of the devotion from the Catholic Encyclopedia is read, we quickly discover that the Rosary evolved over centuries and its common form and use today continues to change. The fact that this particular myth continues to be promulgated speaks to the great piety of the Saint and the dedication of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) which he did found.

We are given a choice of passages from the Gospel of St. Matthew today. One speaks of faith as we see Peter try to walk on water and fail, the other speaks of false piety. It is a difficult choice for reflection since both topics are so important to us. Given that St. Dominic gets so much credit for the Rosary and the Rosary is a repetitive devotion that has been used for centuries to foster faith, (that and as a sailor I have to go to the story with a boat in it) we will reflect upon the faith of Peter and what Christ says about it.

First, let’s set the stage. Jesus is still pretty upset over the death of John the Baptist. He tried once to find a place of solitude to process his grief and failed (see yesterday’s feeding frenzy). Today he finds a place to pray and be alone but while he is communing with His Father, a storm comes up and the disciples are caught in not only rough seas but wind that is from exactly the wrong direction, “…for the wind was against it.” This would mean they could not just anchor with bows to the wind because the swells were not coming at them out of the wind.

This is a very scary situation since, depending on how big the swells are, the boat could be swamped and sunk. Since the boat was not within swimming distance from the shore; “Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore…” this was not just a matter of being bounced around and becoming sea sick, this was a life threatening situation and since a large number of the disciples were sailors, they knew they were in deep trouble.

Ok, so here are the disciples a few miles offshore in the middle of the night on the edge of panic. One of their number looks toward shore and sees a figure coming toward the boat (that’s impossible) and attracts the attention of the others. They are all holding on for dear life but transfixed on the figure approaching them. Then Peter (probably the best sailor of the lot) recognizes Jesus when he hails the boat with; “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter takes the plunge (pun intended) and begins to do as the Lord had asked – he starts walking toward Jesus on the water. When he takes his focus off Jesus and looks around he sees that what he is doing is impossible (for him without the Lord) and he begins to sink.

If we think about the story we can see two major points to this place in the story. First, even when all seems lost we hear the Lord tell us; “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.” It is that calm voice calling out in the storms of our lives that we can listen for and be comforted. We also hear how Peter begins to accomplish something truly remarkable, but, as soon as he takes his eyes off the Lord, it is lost. The point, we can accomplish remarkable things as long as we keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Lord.

It is this part of the lesson Jesus himself addresses to Peter directly; “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” We must not doubt, rather we must take courage and follow where the Lord leads. All we need to do is pick a direction, no matter how unlikely it seems (walking on water?). Pax