His Excellency,
The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., STD
Bishop Emeritus
Diocese of Belleville
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 9, 2026, 11:00 AM Mass
Saint Teresa Parish
“Get Out of the Boat and Into the Stormy Sea of Life” (Matthew c.14:v.22-33)
(This is the text as originally written. During the actual delivery, some passages were omitted and other comments were added spontaneously. Nota bene: This text has not been thoroughly proofread. Therefore, there may be errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
What do you think of Mother Nature? Summer is a wonderful time to relax and enjoy the wonders of nature. Camping, hiking, gardening, picnicking, outdoor sports, swimming, boating, sitting in a flower garden reading a good book, and traveling to places you have never seen before. At the same time, each day’s news reminds us of nature’s destructive summer fury: flooding from torrential rainstorms, devastating wildfires, melting mountain snow’s deadly avalanches, ocean undercurrents sweeping people out to sea, and sudden storms sinking boats without warning.
Through the centuries the paradox of the pleasures and perils of nature have caused many people, including Christians, to ask what is the relationship between God and nature? Does God have direct control over all the forces of nature? Or, once created, does God simply allow nature to take its course resulting in joys and sorrows, life and death? Does God have the power to intervene in nature and prevent nature’s deadly consequences and simply chooses not to? Or is nature, in some way, free of divine governance? I know from personal conversations that Catholics have very different thoughts about the relationship between God and nature. Others just don’t think about it at all.
* * * * * * *
Is this morning’s reading from Matthew c.14: v.22-33, primarily intended to be proof of Jesus’s power over nature? Or is it primarily intended to teach us the importance of holding fast to faith in all of the circumstances of our daily lives? Matthew tells us about Peter’s faith and doubt on the storm-tossed Sea of Galilee. This account of Jesus walking on water toward the boat of the disciples, and Peter jumping out of the boat to join Him, only to begin to sink and to be rescued by Jesus, is a parallel to Matthew’s earlier narrative in c. 8: v.23-27, in which Jesus is sleeping in a boat with the disciples when a terrible storm threatens to sink the boat. In that story, the frightened disciples wake Jesus up shouting, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” Jesus asks them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he rebukes the winds and the sea, and the storm suddenly ends. The disciples are amazed and ask, “What manner of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
Some commentators argue that these sea storm miracle stories are not to be taken literally. They should be seen as parables about the importance of faith in Jesus Christ. Other commentators, however, argue that these stories MUST be taken literally because they are examples of Jesus’ power over all things including the forces of nature. Some scripture scholars suggest that the two stories may actually be two different versions of the same sea rescue event.
Matthew says that Jesus made the disciples get into the boat. A more precise translation of the verb would be that He forced or compelled them. He compelled them to get into the boat and to leave Him alone with the crowd of more than 5,000 people, whom He fed by the multiplication of loaves and fish. Jesus instructs His disciples to leave Him behind and take their boat out into the sea. Jesus then retreats to a mountain, which for Matthew always means He is going to a place of intense prayer and intimate communion with God. While Jesus is off by Himself in prayer, the disciples set off from south of the fishing village of Bethsaida to cross the Sea of Galilee heading for Capernaum.
The disciples are far from the land, and their boat is beaten by the waves of a sudden storm. The situation is very similar to Jesus’ calming of the sea in Matthew 8: 23-27. But this time in Matthew c.14, the disciples cannot awaken Jesus. Because Jesus is not in the boat.
Even though they were used to storms as experienced fishermen, the disciples were having a difficult time keeping their boat afloat. At the fourth watch of the night (that is early morning between 3 and 6), when it was still dark, Jesus appears to them, walking on the stormy water. The disciples do not recognize Jesus in the midst of the darkness and the raging storm. With the roar of the waves and the spray of the sea drenching their boat, the Disciples think Jesus is a phantom or a ghost. They cry out in fear! (In biblical times, fishermen commonly believed that boatmen who drowned at sea haunted fishermen as spirits on the sea by night).
Over their cries of fear, Jesus calls to them, “Take courage, be not afraid, it is I.” Peter, doubting that it really is Jesus, says, “If it truly is you, command me to walk on the water. Jesus utters a single word, “Come!”
With remarkable trust and courage, Peter climbs over the side of the boat. In the middle of strong winds and waves, he trusts Jesus enough to step out of the boat. Not one of the other disciples dared set foot out of the boat and into the treacherous sea. But instead of keeping his eyes on Jesus, he looks at the surging waves. Peter, terrified, begins to sink and cries out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus takes Peter’s hand saves him, saying, “O you of little faith!” (Notice these were exactly the same words that Jesus uses in the Chapter 8 story.) Then Jesus and Peter get into the boat. When Jesus tells Peter to come to Him, He doesn’t calm the storm. Rather, He invites Peter out onto the rough seas. The rebuke of Peter’s lack of faith was because he takes his eyes off of Jesus and focuses on the storm. Once they are in the boat, the sea becomes calm. But scripture does NOT say that Jesus calms the sea, as it says in Matthew 8: 23-27. In this account the storm simply blows over.
* * * * * * *
The other version of this story, in Chapter 8, when Jesus Himself calms the sea from within the boat, ends with Jesus’ question, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” In that version, the disciples wonder who Jesus is. “What manner of man is this? Even the sea obeys Him!” In today’s version, the disciples state clearly who the man who walked on water is, “Truly you are the Son of God.” If Peter had not dared to leave the boat, he would not have experienced the power of Jesus to save him from his doubts. The storms of life can sometimes cause us to be afraid and to doubt. The existential philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, called the decision to follow Jesus a leap of faith, like leaping out of a boat into the stormy seas of life’s uncertainty.
* * * * * * *
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
We all like to feel comfortable and safe. This is a part of human nature. Sometimes Jesus asks us to take a risk and place our trust in Him. Sometimes, He asks us, like Peter, “Come, get out of the boat, and into the sea.”
Each of us has experienced difficult moments when we were not certain of what to do. We wanted to cling to the security of what is familiar in the boat of life. But Jesus may be calling us to get out of the boat. Come! Get out of the boat and reach out your hand to Jesus to renew your faith by intensifying your life of prayer, your daily reading of the scripture, your relationship to Christ in the Holy Eucharist, your regular participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the forgiveness of your sins, and your resuming the practice of morning and night prayers.
Come! Get out of the boat and shine the bright light of the gospel on the complicated social and moral challenges our troubled world and our fractured country are facing today.
Come! Get out of the boat and try to bring a greater Christian presence to your home, your place of work, or your school!
Come! Get out of the boat and accept the family member or friend who is living in a manner with which you disapprove!
Come! Get out of the boat and forgive your wife or husband, mother or father, son or daughter, who has deeply disappointed or hurt you!
As you enjoy the delights of our fleeting summer days, pause, ponder the mystery of God and nature.
Take courage—Be not afraid. It is I!
Come! Get out of the boat, confident that Jesus Christ is walking with you over the stormy seas of life!
Come! Get out of the boat, confident that Jesus Christ is walking with you over the stormy seas of life!
Praised be Jesus Christ. Both now and forever. AMEN!