Dear Brothers and Sisters,
There is only one requirement to be able to live the Eucharist well. It is to be in need! A man or woman who is not in need, listens at the Eucharist, the Mass, and it goes in one ear and out the other. Our life doesn’t change for nothing! If you don’t come needy, that means we are full of other things. That might mean for you that what gives you life is money, power, work, what you can do to build yourself up. Where are you seeking life?
We come to the Eucharist, which is already hard to listen to, we pass the time and nothing changes! We think to be the most converted, the most Christian and we judge the others. If we are not in need, we will never meet this man, Jesus Christ!
This Gospel today is a way of faith for us. The disciples encounter Jesus without knowing it is He. They think it is a ghost! Many times, Jesus meets us through the others. I saw the Lord often in my catechists, in spiritual advice from a priest, from a good friend, through the brothers and sisters in the community. It doesn’t look like Jesus, but he says, “Courage! It is I, do not be afraid!”
Jesus always defeats death. He comes to meet us defeating death. Walking on the water. It is not enough that we see Jesus walking on water. Faith is that we walk over death. Peter knew something that I don’t know if you know. That he couldn’t walk on the waters by himself. That is why the Lord sent them into the boat so that they can know that they can’t defeat death on their own. We can’t defeat the deaths we face in marriage, in addictions, in the inability to forgive. We are only able to walk on the water if the Lord tells us, “Come!”
What makes Peter walk on the water? The Word of the Lord! Only one word! He defeats death. This is a sign of a Christian. Then what happens! LISTEN! In the life of faith, we must experience that we sink. If we don’t experience this, we are naturally religious people, thinking we are very good, that we are walking on the water, but it is baloney. We need to experience that we sink.
The question is where are you in this gospel? Are you in the boat, in fear? Walking on the waters. Sinking? Good! Then come to the Eucharist in need, it is necessary to experience the storm! In the gospel it seemed that Jesus forced them in the boat. He knew what he was going to do, and he wanted to show them his glory. That he destroys death. To show them that they are going to do, one day.
There will be moments where you sink. What do you have to do? Shout! Like Peter. Lord, Save me! If you scream, you won’t sink, because the Lord will save you. Don’t ever stop praying. You can leave everything else but not prayer. Shout because the Lord will take you out of death, the one you are living today. The death in your marriage, in your loneliness, in your sickness, in your loss.
That is why the gospel is for the needy, you will be able to say: “Truly, you are the Son of God” because Christ took you out of death. This is what it means to be a Christian. Did you notice when the wind calmed down? When Christ and Peter got on the boat. Be with Christ in his Church, in your community. To overcome death is to love. To sink is to hate. Shout to the Lord! With Him we can love, without him, we cannot.