Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mt 14: 22-33
August 13, 2023 | Sunday

Today’s Gospel

Immediately, Jesus obliged his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, he went up the mountain by himself, to pray.

At nightfall, he was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, for the wind was against it.

At daybreak, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. When they saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear.

But at once, Jesus said to them, “Courage! Don’t be afraid. It’s me!” Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said to him, “Come!”

And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid, and began to sink; and he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”

As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God!”

Today’s Reflection:

Today, courage means having the audacity to bend or violate rules, circumvent the conventional, and even to power trip merely to show off one’s insatiable autonomy. Man does whatever he wants to do without barriers. The only barrier is the limit of the self. That is courage nowadays, glamorized as something heroic. It projects a fake venture because the risk it entails leads to a false image of one’s self. When one thinks that the self can take charge of everything, the amount of conceit weighs down the soul, and eventually, his soul caves into his own pride. But courage should not destroy the self. Rather, its true rootedness in God makes courage a substantial experience of confidence. Saint Paul once wrote, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10 CCB). It is in this line of courage that we must base our strength and courage. /Vulnerasti, 2023