Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 8, 2023
Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side of the sea,
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 him,
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.”
After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret.
When the men of that place recognized him,
they sent word to all the surrounding country.
People brought to him all those who were sick
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak,
and as many as touched it were healed.
My work colleague has battled colon cancer over the past several years. I have admired him as his trust in God has grown despite the physical and mental suffering and uncertainties accompanying his diagnosis. Even while enduring one last powerful and painful round of chemotherapy, he still mentions he only has gratitude for each day. My friend has totally surrendered to God. He truly prays, hopes, and doesn’t worry, as Padre Pio, his favorite saint, encourages us all to do.
Like Peter in Matthew’s passage, I struggle with trust in Jesus. I become wrapped up in daily chaos, forgetting he is always there. I slide into familiar self-reliant controlling patterns, putting myself first and him as an afterthought. And I lack the patience to pause and wait for Jesus’ answers, instead electing to find short-lived comfort or gratification that is always followed by emptiness or uneasiness.
With my colleague as inspiration, I am building my trust in the Lord. Whether it is a life-threatening situation like Peter and my friend’s or a more minor challenge, I need to remember that peace is found in giving my best and knowing the Lord will take care of the rest.
Proverbs 3:5-6 advises, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; but in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.” This surrender is medicine for the anxieties and fears that Peter and we all experience in our self-reliance. I pray our faith will grow so we can see more clearly the connection between surrendering our lives to the Lord and attaining the beauty and peace we so deeply desire.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are merciful, compassionate, and fully understand our human weakness. You know our fears, the things that hold us back from trusting you and from becoming fully ourselves. But you won’t let us use those things as an excuse. You always challenge us to grow, and with the challenge comes the grace to meet it. Thank you for caring so much about us. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Dominic is one of the brightest saints the faith has produced, and he changed the Church with his dedication to embodying holiness so as to authentically proclaim the truth.
Dominic was born in 1170 in Castile, Spain, and went to university to study to become a priest. After his ordination, he took a trip with his bishop through France where they met proponents of a heretical form of Christianity that was growing in popularity among the people. Believers in this heresy proposed two principles in the world—one good, one evil—and they believed that all physical matter was evil. Therefore, they rejected things of the body—they ate very little and had strict disciplines, which won the admiration of many people.
Dominic and his bishop began to counter this heresy through their preaching, but they had little credibility among the faithful because priests of the time lived a life of luxury and comforts. The strict lives of the heretics seemed heroic to the people.
Dominic’s answer was to establish an order of priests who would travel and preach against this heresy, living a simple life of prayer and intellectual study. The ideal for this community, the Order of Preachers, Dominic said, was “to pass on the fruits of contemplation” and to “speak only of God and with God.” Today, the Dominicans are present in 86 countries around the world.
While she was pregnant, Dominic’s mother had a vision that her son would light the world on fire like a hound running wild with a torch in its mouth.
The vision of Dominic’s mother came to fruition in the way he combined prayer and work. Prayer, Dominic knew, changes us, and thus, changes how we do our work. Our work, then, becomes an outflowing of our prayer, even when it seemingly has nothing to do with spiritual matters. When we live a life rooted in prayer, our actions communicate God’s presence in places used to cold and darkness. Prayer transforms us into a hound running wild with a torch in its mouth—we set the world on fire
St. Dominic’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and he is also depicted there in stained glass. One window shows him receiving the rosary from Mary—he is known to have spread the devotional prayer through his preaching. He is often depicted with a star above his head because at his baptism his mother saw a star shining from his chest. Thus, he is the patron saint of astonomers.
St. Dominic, who set the world on fire with prayer—pray for us!