August 13, 2017, 2017
Walking on WaterA group of ministers of religion while making a retreat were asked to do an Ignatian type contemplation of the scene in today's Gospel: where Jesus came, walking on water, to the frightened disciples in the boat. They were asked to imagine that they were the disciples in the boat and then fantasize what happened. One of them reported what happened in this way: "When I recognized the Lord coming towards us walking on the water, I got an irresistible desire to be able to walk on the water also so I cried out, 'Jesus, bid me come to you.' He answered, 'Sure, Tony, come along.' I stepped out on the water and found that I could walk on it. I was so delighted that I proudly and sneeringly looked back over my shoulder at the other disciples who were fearfully sitting in the boat. As I did so the water went from under me and I began to sink. I tried to swim, but I could not. So I cried out in panic 'Help, Lord, help.' Jesus caught me by the hair and put me sitting on the side of the boat. Then he said, 'Get this straight, Tony, I'm Jesus, I'm the guy who walks on water; if you try to walk on the water you will sink. Is that clear?'" As the group discussed the meaning of the fantasy Tony came to realize that as a minister of God he believed that he, Tony, should be doing great things, working miracles, curing people, walking on water, whereas what God wanted him to be was just to be ordinary. Then it was up to the Lord to do what he wished with Tony's ordinary efforts. Letting go of our desire to be great is one of the first requirements in following the Lord. The twice daily practice of letting go of all thoughts and desires in meditation is a great training towards this detachment.
It trains us, too, for the letting go in faith, the walking on water that is our daily lot as individuals, in our various roles and as members of the Church. It is very clear that the boat in the story is a symbol of the Church which was undergoing stormy times and experiencing especially the fragility of its leadership during the times when Matthew was writing his Gospel. The story was told to tell people not to give up hope. If they have faith in Jesus they can walk on water. They can do this even if the leadership is frail and defective as Peter was. We too can walk on water even if we ourselves are frail and weak as Peter was. The message is that we are to let go of trust in ourselves and put our trust in Jesus.
Take Paul, for example. He is a salesman for a Pharmaceutical company and is away from home. He meets a very attractive woman and he finds himself unburdening the strain that he is having right now with his wife. His wife would never know if he is unfaithful! Will Paul have the strength to walk across the water of fidelity at the call of Christ who tells him that adultery is wrong?
Tommy is in a position of authority. His boss comes asking for a favor for a friend. To comply would be to trample on justice, but would also be to open the road to promotion. Will he have the faith to walk on the waters of justice or will he sail along with the current of corruption?
On a Sunday Maggie is caught between going to hear the Word of God in Church or lazing around and taking it from the Sunday Chronicle or a Television Channel instead.
When we see the human weakness and venality of bishops, priests and lay leaders who like Peter may have sunk into foul waters, we may find it hard to believe that Christ is still sustaining the ship, the Church, which they are guiding.
The option to walk on the waters with Christ is one that we have to make every day of our lives. It is a letting go in faith, a submission to a belief that there is a bigger plan and a good God beyond our superficial observations. In Christian meditation we do exactly this. In say the mantra we let go in faith to the God who made the universe and who dwells in the cave of our hearts. We do not try to tell him what to do. We just be in his presence and in that presence he will guide us what to do even if it demands what from a human point of view would be as foolish as walking on water.
THE BISHOP AND THE MANTRA. There was a bishop once who heard that the monks living of a distant island in his diocese used to pray without words; they just repeated a mantra or prayer word for long periods each day. The bishop was shocked and took the first available sailboat to visit the island so that he could teach them how to pray. He called the monks together and harangued them on their errors. He told them that they were wasting their time in saying their mantras. They should be talking to God when they went to prayer because that was what prayer was for. He gave them a scroll with the Office that they should recite and the other prayers that they should say throughout the day. The monks accepted his correction humbly and agreed to do exactly as he told them. The bishop left the island very happy that his mission was accomplished so successfully.
However, during the night the wind died down and the boat was becalmed. As the sun came up next morning the sailors began to scream with fear as they thought they were seeing a ghost. They saw a line of monks walking on the water towards the boat. The monks came beside the boat and asked for the bishop. Then they said "My lord, we are sorry to disturb you but we want to follow your instructions on how to pray. However, last night the scroll you gave us was blown away by the wind. We are so sorry. Could you give us another one?"
The bishop raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Just go home and pray as you have always prayed."
