Homily for August
7, 2005 Liturgical Year
A-Cycle I 19th Sunday in
Ordinary Time by Fr. John Carney Topic: Help, Lord + + +
Gospel Mt 14:22-33
After he had fed
the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to
the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he
went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening
he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles
offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against
it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them
walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea
they were terrified. "It is a ghost," they said, and they cried
out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I;
do not be afraid." Peter said to him in reply, "Lord, if it is
you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come."
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward
Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became
frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save
me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,
and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were
in the boat did him homage, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God."
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You
have to
love Peter.He’s so complex, and yet he’s so simple.And in many ways, many of us would say, he’s so much like me.Peter said, “I’ll never doubt you.”“I’ll never deny you,” then he denies
Him.In this case, Peter sees Jesus, and
he is so excited.Jesus says, “Come to
me.”And he walks on water, for a little
while.Then he looks down and becomes
frightened.He started to depend on
himself and took his eyes off Jesus, and he begins to sink.He yells out, “Save me, Lord!”Some versions have him saying, “Help me,
Lord!”He needed help, and he asked for
it.And you have to give Peter credit
for that.He often got in trouble, but
he knew how to get out of it.He got
back to Jesus’ right side, and he said, “Help me, Lord.”
That’s
a prayer, “Help!”Just, in itself, really,
a perfect prayer for
a number of reasons.It comes naturally
to us, this prayer.And we all need
help, from time to time.No man is an
island.Only the foolish refuse to ask
for help and accept it.Indeed, there
are so many of us who are foolish, especially men.One of the most difficult tasks a priest has
is to bury someone who has taken their own lives.I’ve
done that perhaps 20 times in my
priesthood.Most of them were men, and
in just about every case, they just couldn’t ask for help.They just couldn’t admit they weren’t
independent, that they needed some help.So we need to learn that prayer, and learn it well, and use it
as often
as we need to use it.“Help, Lord!”
I
want to conclude with a meditation on this prayer, “Help,
Lord,” written by Charles Spurgeon, an English writer of the last
century.He was talking specifically
about Psalm 12, a psalm of David, where the psalm begins, “Help,
Lord.Are there no good men left?”Sounds like a young woman looking for a
husband.In David’s case, he was looking
for leaders, and co-workers in God’s work.So here’s what Spurgeon had to say about this prayer, “Help.”
The
prayer itself is remarkable, for it is shor, but seasonable, terse yet
suggestive.David lifted up his heart in
supplication.When the creature failed,
he flew to the Creator.He evidently
felt his own weakness, or he would not have cried for help.But at the same time, he intended honestly to
exert himself, for the word “help” is inapplicable where we ourselves
do
nothing.There is much of directness,
clearness of perception, and distinctness of utterance in this petition
of two
words.Much more, indeed, than in the
long, rambling outpourings of certain professors.”(Or, I would add,. Homilists.)“The
psalmist runs straight forward to his God, with a well considered
prayer.He knows what he is seeking, and
where to
seek it.
Lord,
teach us to pray in this same blessed manner.