Tuesday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time

“Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you across the water.”
 
And Jesus replied, “Come.”
 
The context of these lines, Jesus appearing to His disciples walking on water during a storm at night, is very familiar to all of us. And Peter is fine, too, getting out of the boat and walking on the water until he looks down.
 
For me, this passage (Mt 14:23-36) from today’s gospel, gives laser focus to an issue in the spiritual life that is very central, critical, and frequent: TRUST.
 
In directed retreats, spiritual direction, and weekend retreat consultations, with many individuals and circumstances and details and life situations during my time here at Loyola, so very many differing “roads” have led to the issue of trust.
 
And this issue of trust takes place within a context that is totally personal: our relationship with Jesus (i.e., God).
 
When Jesus says to Peter, “Come,” He is obviously saying to him, “Trust me.” And the context is extremely stressful and trying. Ring any bells?
 
Like faith, trust is not knowledge. We trust people to be there for us in our needs, but we can’t be sure of this happening. Sometimes we are disappointed. So what Jesus is asking is not easy.
 
Reflecting on this issue makes me think of 2 things: my father’s death and funeral, and the Garden of Gethsemane.
 
My father’s death was my first experience of losing a loved one. So his wake was the first time i was the one being “visited” and not the one “visiting”. I learned that there is a world of difference. The wake took place in eastern Long Island. The first night of the wake a contingent from my previous assignment on the lower East Side of Manhattan walked through the door. A long trip out for them; a long trip back. I have zero recollection of anything they said to me; i have very vivid and deeply grateful recollections of how much their presence, their accompaniment, meant to me. This didn’t remove my pain; it helped me greatly to bear it.
 
Jesus went into the Garden and asked His Father to remove the cup He was about to be asked to drink. His request was not granted. The gospels give us no indication of the ‘why’. But Jesus trusted. He had to have trusted that His Father knew what He was doing and that He would accompany Jesus with whatever Jesus needed to drink from that cup.
 
The Resurrection tells us that His trust was vindicated.
 
Jesus assures us that good has overcome evil; that love has overcome hate; and that life has overcome death. In this context, trust makes total sense.
 
But in the “weeds” of daily living, it’s not as clear. It’s here that Jesus also asks us to trust Him that He is accompanying us with whatever it is we need. He’s “been here, done this”. He doesn’t ask anything of us that He Himself has not experienced.
 
It’s not easy, but nor is it complicated.