August 4, 2026 -- Tuesday of the 18th Week, B,
Jer 30, 1-2. 12-15. 18-22; Mt 14, 22-36
H O M I L Y
The central element of this Gospel is placed by the Evangelist Saint Matthew between two manifestations of Jesus' care for the hungry and the sick. Our text begins, indeed, with the mention of the multiplication of the bread and ends with that of the crowds bringing their sick to Jesus so that they might be healed even only by touching the tassel of his clock.
After the multiplication of the bread Jesus sends his disciples home, by boat, and he himself goes "home", in a different way, by going to the mountain to pray, which he does for a large part of the night.
A sailor or a fisherman both fears and loves the storms. He fears them because they often take human lives; he loves them, because, especially at night, they put him in touch with the most mysterious and frightening forces of nature, which in turn connect somehow with the supernatural forces.
So, here are the disciples struggling against strong winds and big waves; and amidst of that, Jesus comes walking quietly on the water. Peter manifests himself once more as the most charming and disconcerting disciple of Jesus. He has enough faith to challenge Jesus to make him come to Him on the water. He has enough faith to answer his invitation and to begin to walk on the water. As long as his attention is centered on Jesus, there is no problem; he does walk on the water. But as soon as his attention moves from Jesus to the big waves, he is scared and begins to sink.
What is the lesson of that Gospel for us? -- At times we are invited to go with Jesus in the solitude to pray. At other times we are not invited but are sent back on the high sea by him, as it happened to the Disciples. In the absence of Jesus, the high sea easily becomes a stormy one. If we look beyond the limits of the boat in which we are, onto the sea, we will see Jesus, quietly -- calmly -- coming to us. If we trust in Him, if we keep our eyes and attention on him, we are saved, we can walk on any type of water. But as soon as we withdraw our attention from him in order to place it on our difficulties, we begin to sink.
Faith needs to be bound with continuous prayer, that is, with a constant memory of God.