'Christ sits at the helm and rules.' Sunday Reflections, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St Peter Walking on the Water

Alessandro Allori [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)

Gospel Matthew 14:22-33 (English Standard Version Anglicised )

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Fr William Doyle SJ

3 March 1873 - 16 August 2017

Fr William Doyle SJ, killed on 16 August 1917 in the Third Battle of Ypres, Belgium, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, wrote this commentary on today's Gospel. Father Willie was an Irish Jesuit who served as a chaplain in the Great War (1914-1918) with Irish regiments in the British army. There is a wealth of information about him and of his writings on Remembering Fr Willie Doyle SJ.

About the fourth watch of the night he cometh to them

Christ did not show himself until the fourth watch of the night. How often is this same history repeated in our own case! There is no encouragement, no comfort. We are wearied waiting. There is no sign of approaching help. Why not give up! Surely we never bargained for this. We never believed things would come to such a pass! Oh, the anguish of these moments, when in the midst of struggle, depression and loneliness Christ withholds his sensible presence. 

Christ delays to come. But he is watching all the time; he would only test us. Let him not be disappointed. This is a moment of tremendous grace. If we are stout of heart and bear our trial manfully, we will emerge from the crucible with well-nigh herculean strength. These are moments that disentangle us from many of the trappings that weaken and weigh us down. After they have passed, invariably we find our vision clearer and our appreciation of the value of things truer.

Walking upon the sea

Thus does he come to us also walking upon the sea with these words upon his lips. 'Have a good heart, fear not. It is I.' And we whisper to ourselves, 'It is the Lord.' Yes, then we understand. Then everything goes easy and we wonder that we should ever have doubted. Then we are ashamed of our wavering. What a beautiful tribute to Christ our trust would have been. So we determine next time we will understand. We decide that when next the tide of our life runs high, when our heart-boat is lashed by a rugged sea, we will understand that Christ is near, watching us and we fight fearlessly and cheerfully. Thus, little by little, troubles and crosses will serve to clamp the trust in Christ that will steady our hearts and like St Peter will will cry out: 'Lord if it be thou, bid me come to thee across the waters.' O the joy of our hearts as the master says 'Come.' And we go. We really walk upon the sea. We do wonders until some tremendous sorrow-wave dashes up between us and Christ, and for a moment we lose heart and cry out 'Lord save me'.

Immediately he spoke with them

Immediately - that word is full of love - stretching forth his hand he takes hold of me. And when He has come into my heart-boat the wind ceased. But it is only after Christ has been given full control of our heart-boat that the winds cease. This is the struggle of our life - to let Christ rule.

So long as he must come over the waters to us there will be many a lonely struggle. But when through great generosity on our part we have emptied our lives of everything likely to raise a tempest in the heart, then Christ will sit at the helm and the waves may toss, the winds may roll and blow about the boat. We are calm. We have no cause to fear. Christ sits at the helm and rules.

The Man at the Helm

Théo van Rysselberghe [Web Gallery of Art]

The reflection above was taken from pages 182-184 of To Raise the Fallen, compiled and edited by Patrick Kenny and published by Veritas. Patrick Kenny's blog, Remembering Fr Willie Doyle SJ has a wealth of information on Fr Doyle and many extracts from his writings, a new post each day.

Antiphona ad communionem

Communion Antiphon Cf. John 6:51

Panem, quenm ego dedero, caro mea est pro saeculi vita, dicit Dominus.

The bread that I will give, says the Lord, is my flesh for the life of the world.

Extraordinary Form of the Mass

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)

This Sunday, 9 August, is the Tenth Sunday After Pentecost in the calendar that uses the TLM. Complete Mass in Latin and English here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page).

'Blessed are the peacemakers'

John Hume 

18 January 1937 - 3 August 2020 [Wikipedia]

John Hume, husband, father, statesman, peacemaker, was a man who lived out his Catholic Christian faith in the world of politics, above all as a peacemaker. More than anyone else, it is widely acknowledged, he helped to bring about the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that brought an end to decades - one might say centuries - of conflict in Northern Ireland.

A friend of mine, Madeline McCully, knew John Hume and knows his wife Pat very well. Like John and Pat, Madeline and her husband Tom were teachers in the city of Derry. I know them through Marriage Encounter. Madeline wrote this about her late friend. 

I was so sad to hear of John Hume’s death today. Apart from being born in the street next to him, he helped me greatly when I was at university.

For my final dissertation I chose the subject of ‘The University for Derry Campaign’ which was going on at the time in 1967. John was the driving force behind this. When I contacted him he was enormously helpful and on several occasions I travelled home from Bristol where I was studying and spent many Saturdays in his home in Beechwood Avenue. He saved pamphlets and articles for me and made the gathering of information easy. I recorded him on my big Grundig tape recorder. His wife Pat made me so welcome and plied us with cups of tea during the day.

On every occasion that we met he was invariably courteous and kind as he was with everyone and therein lay his greatness. He often said that Pat was the one who deserved credit for getting him to appointments. ‘I’m the parcel and she delivers me!’ Our thoughts are with you Pat and the family at this sad time. Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam [May God have mercy on his soul].

John Hume singing Tráthnóna Beag Aréir

This was on The Late, Late Show, an enormously popular TV show in Ireland that has been running for nearly 60 years, in 1985, presented by Gay Byrne, who died last year. After the song, in this longer clip from RTÉ, Ireland's national broadcasting service, John Hume talks about people in his native city of Derry. This shows his rootedness in his own people, a quality that was so important in his role as a peacemaker enabling him to see and understand their own rootedness in others.

In a very real way John Hume was an embodiment of the words Fr Willie Doyle used at the end of his reflection on this Sunday's gospel: Christ sits at the helm and rules.

‘Is meaner do lucht síochána a dhéanamh, óir glaofar clann Dé orthu’ (Matha 5:9).

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’ (Matthew 5:7).

'Beati pacifici: quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur' (Matthaeus 5:9).