He came towards them walking on the sea. (Mt. 14:25)
These words in Matthew 14:22-33 describe how Jesus walked on stormy waters towards His disciples.
But before Jesus performed this miracle, He spent the whole night in personal prayer with His Father. He dispatched His disciples, dismissed the crowds, and found a place of solitude so that He could spend the entire night in prayer; “He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was there alone.”
Clearly, Jesus does not need prayer to perform miracles. But He prays in solitude before facing the storms, showing us that we cannot face the storms of our lives without making adequate time to be with God in personal prayer.
This Gospel passage also shows us four things that happen to us when we try to face life’s trials without cultivating a personal relationship with God through prayer.
Firstly, we will fail to recognize Jesus in the storms of our lives.
The disciples failed to recognize Jesus coming to them in the storm. “When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, ‘It is a ghost.’” Failing to recognize Christ with them, they gave in to their imagination and concluded that Jesus was a ghost.
When we do not make time for personal prayer, Jesus also becomes a ghost to us, a mere figment of our imagination. We fail to realize that Jesus is the greatest reality, the source of all reality, and that He is present with us. When we fail to realize Jesus’ presence with us, we give in to the feeling of being abandoned by Him.
We can recognize the abiding presence of Jesus with us, especially in the Eucharist, only when we are committed to personal prayer in His loving presence.
Secondly, we give in to fear.
The disciples “were terrified” and “cried out in fear.” They looked at Jesus, the source of peace, and yet they gave in to fear because they did not know Him personally and His love that sets us free from all fears. They failed to experience that perfect love that alone “casts out fears” (1 Jn. 4:18).
We cannot know Jesus Christ intimately without personal prayer in His presence where we actually allow Him to reveal Himself to us and we reveal ourselves to Him. We are overcome by our fears and anger when this personal relationship through prayer is lacking.
Thirdly, we cannot do what Jesus asks of us.
Jesus invited St. Peter to actually do what He was doing and walk on troubled waters towards Him. Jesus was inviting him to take a risk and allow divine grace to do through him what was, humanly speaking, impossible.
St. Peter started walking on troubled waters in self-trust and without any prayer for divine assistance. Thus, he could only take a few steps before succumbing to the strong winds. Jesus caught him and saved him only when he called out in desperation, “Lord, save me.”
Jesus is still calling out to us in the storms of our lives to do or endure something for Him. We don’t have to give in to that sinking feeling when things seem hopeless. Jesus is still saving and helping us in these storms of life. We can know His saving love and assistance only when we actually spend time with Him in personal prayer. We are overcome by this sinking feeling when our prayer-communion with Him is not what it should be.
Lastly, we lose our faith during the storms of life.
Peter had faith to get out of the boat, but doubts crept in when he experienced the strong winds. He cried out, “Lord, save me.”
Sometimes, there is a conflict between what we experience and what we believe about God. We face storms that make us doubt God’s love, His wisdom, and power. Sadly, we sometimes permit our human experiences to determine what we believe or think about God and His love for us.
If only we can bring these experiences to God in prayer and faith, we will begin to see things the way that God wants us to see them.
We must remember the big picture whenever we are facing the storms of life. We live in the certainty that Jesus Christ is always with us in the storms. He is drawing closer to us and inviting us to draw closer to Him, especially in personal prayer. He wants to save and help us in these moments and bring us home to heaven.
In 1 Kings 19:9-13, God invites the discouraged and tired prophet Elijah to a personal encounter on the mountain of God in Horeb, “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the will be passing by.” The prophet responded to this invitation, and he encountered the living God in “the tiny whispering sound.” God renewed and enlightened him so that he could complete his mission and become one of Israel’s greatest prophets. All this because the prophet responded to the invitation to personal prayer.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we face many storms in our lives. We may struggle in our faith as Jesus’ disciples. Maybe we have trials in our health, careers, relationships, or spiritual life. Maybe we are affected by the trials we face in the Church, country, or world. In addition to bringing all these things to our prayer at Holy Mass where we pray for each other, we also need to have personal prayer with Jesus at those moments.
Many of us sadly attend Holy Mass with little or no personal prayer. Many of us beg others to pray for us without making time for our own personal relationship with Jesus. We fail to realize that Jesus is inviting us to this personal prayer at such moments because He wants to give us the necessary graces to do what He did in His own trials.
I remember going through a difficult time in my very first month in the seminary. I failed my first few exams (one of them being Latin), and I was admitted to the hospital twice. I struggled with relationships and with adjusting to life on the East Coast of the United States. I had many weaknesses and insecurities. I felt like giving up, and I also felt a strong desire for personal prayer. But I did not know how to respond to this desire.
I turned to the Blessed Virgin Mary and begged her for the grace to spend an hour in personal prayer every day. I promised her that I would do this Holy Hour every day if she gave me the grace. Our Mother Mary answered that prayer without delay! The hour of prayer became a source of grace and hope for me in my struggles, and it has sustained me in my priestly and religious vocation till the present moment.
We should beg our Blessed Mother Mary for this grace and commit a specific amount of time daily during which we tune out all the noise and give quality time to our communion with Jesus. Jesus does not remove or prevent some storms because He wants to walk through them with us, if only we turn to Him in personal prayer and persevere in it till death.
This is one reason Jesus remains truly present with us in the Eucharist. Through this sacrament, He is drawing closer to be with us more intimately in all moments, especially in trying moments. He is also drawing us to Him and giving us the grace to draw closer to Him.
If we too respond to Jesus’ constant invitation to personal prayer, we will receive the grace to walk on the stormy waters of life, just as He did.
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!!!
Photo by Giga Khurtsilava on Unsplash
