Scripture Scribbles: August 13, 2023

the Gospel

Matthew 14:22-33

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat

and precede him to the other side,

while he dismissed the crowds.

After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

When it was evening he was there alone.

Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,

was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night,

he came toward them walking on the sea.

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.

"It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear.

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."

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 Peter,

and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

After they got into the boat, the wind died down.

Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,

"Truly, you are the Son of God."

the devotion

“Come”

That’s it. That’s the word, the one word, that Jesus spoke to call Peter out of the boat.

Now don’t forget Peter asked Jesus to call him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”

We all probably have our own way of requesting Jesus to “prove” himself to us….. if you really exist, answer this prayer…. Perform this miracle, grant me this request. If our request is “granted” it’s so fun isn’t it? Feels like an “ask and you shall receive” moment. When our request goes “unheard” or “unanswered” do we sulk and sigh and think, I knew God wouldn’t answer that prayer, or God never hears my cries? Or maybe we are not even bothering God with our request? Maybe we think our wants and needs are too big (or too small) to bother God with? I heard it said once that we pay God a compliment when we ask him for the big stuff. Are we asking? Better yet, is He asking us to….”come”? Step out of the boat! Will there be storms? Yes! Will it be dark and windy and treacherous?? Yes! But keep your eyes on HIM. Trust HIM. Follow HIM. When you get scared, cry out to HIM…. Peter did. And what did Jesus do?

“Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter.” He caught him!

He will catch you! But how can he if we live as though he isn’t even there, not even a passing thought? So many of us are waiting, waiting for “our” proof. A woman at a wedding said to me recently that if a rainbow showed up in the sky that night, she would come back to the Catholic Church. She casually mentioned she had walked away from the church and I was standing there stunned, wanting to tell her don’t wait for the rainbow, just come home. Let’s not wait until we are in the foxhole. Let’s call out to Him now. Let’s ask, let’s seek, let’s find! The more we do, the more we start to notice those little tastes of heaven here on earth, they are everywhere…if only we have the eyes to see.

Today’s devotion is written by Beth Brennan