No - I have not been walking on water - I have to leave that up to Jesus. It has been a while since my last post. Since June I have been very busy trying to keep my head above water - coping with lots of different issues. We are now only about three weeks away from our pilgrimage to Portugal - Spain - France to visit Fatima - Burgos - Montserrat - Lourdes - La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. At the same time - also arranging a new pilgrimage to Italy for October 2024 - honoring a surprise request from my pastor to arrange a pilgrimage for him to the Holy Land in June 2024. In addition - coping with a family funeral and conducting multiple funerals for the local funeral homes. In my spare time I have managed to mow the lawn every four days - taking care of the farmette at home. Today a bit of a breather - my time - creating this post - meditating on the Scriptures for this weekend - preparing a homily for Holy Mass. You guessed it - the Gospel this weekend is about Jesus sending his disciples across the Sea of Galilee after feeding the five thousand - taking a break to go up the mountainside for a little - Me and Thee time - catching His breath - rejoining the disciples very late at night in a choppy sea - walking to them on the water.
The Scriptures are not about Jesus walking on water - He is God - He can do anything He wants. It is not about water - over seventy percent of the Earth is water - it is not about Peter who quickly sinks into the water when he leaves the boat. No - the Gospel for this Sunday is about you - me - all of us who are struggling - coping with the chaos of life. It about the state of the world - all the things going on around us - the things that are going wrong - disappointments we are facing - plans gone astray. It is about us - drowning in the daily struggles of life - how we step out on our own - like Peter - quickly realizing we are literally over our head - feeling alone - abandoned - reaching out - looking for help - from anywhere. Like Peter - we need to look at the Lord - to focus - reach out to Jesus - to cry out - Lord help me! Just as He spoke to Peter - to His disciples - He reminds us - Take courage - it is I - do not be afraid. In the chaos of our lives we need to ignore the sounds of the world seemingly crashing around us - we need to ignore the thunder - lightening - instead stop - listen to the Lord - whispering to us in the silence of the breeze - in the silence of our hearts - reminding us to focus on Him - to proclaim - Jesus I trust in You.
Deacon Dale
