Eyes fixed on Christ

Father Michael Elmlinger

Guest

A temptation that I have faced and I am sure many others have faced as well is, when there are moments in life when it seems like there is a lot going on at once, to begin to sacrifice the time that I would normally give to the Lord in order to focus on whatever major challenge I am dealing with in the moment. However, it almost never fails that when I do so, I find myself overwhelmed by the “storm” and begin to drown in the midst of the suffering, whatever it may be. Each time I am reminded by the Lord that, while it is always important to keep my eyes fixed on him, it is especially important during these storms to keep my eyes fixed on Christ.

This was a lesson that St. Peter had to learn the hard way, and thanks be to God that he does. In doing so, both he and the Lord provide the lesson to us so that we know what to do during those storms that we face in our lives. In our Gospel for this weekend (Matthew 14:22-33), Jesus has the disciples go into a boat to cross the sea while he goes up the mountain by himself to pray to the Father. However, while the disciples are crossing the sea, a major storm begins to oppress them. Already being a few miles offshore (cf. 14:24), they are too far out at sea to be able to simply go back and get out of the water. They are completely stuck and are likely becoming so frightened that they think they will die out at sea. We also have to keep in mind that some of these disciples are fishermen, including Peter, so the fact that this storm was giving them so much trouble tells us that this was not a typical storm that they would face. This was something lethal.

It is during this time that they become even more terrified when they see Jesus himself walking on the water, thinking that he was a ghost (14:26). It is here that Jesus reassures them who he is and gives a simple command: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (14:27). Peter then tests him to see if it really is Jesus by telling Jesus to command him to walk onto the water. Amazingly, Peter is able to get out of the water and walk towards Jesus. In fact, in another translation of this passage, it seems as if Peter was even able to make it all the way to Jesus when it says that he “came to Jesus” (Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition, 14:29). However, Peter does something that nearly dooms him; he takes his eyes off Jesus and begins to focus on the storm around him. He sees that this storm is not calming down and begins to think again that he is going to die. It is when he does this that Peter begins to drown and has to cry out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” (14:30). Jesus calmly grabs him and says to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (14:31), and just like that, the wind dies down.

What is amazing about this passage is that had Peter simply kept his eyes fixed on Christ, he would never have begun to sink into the water. He would have been simply there with Jesus while the storm continued to rage. It was only when Peter looked away from Jesus and began instead to focus on the storm around him rather than on Jesus that he began to drown. In doing so, he doubts his faith in Jesus that Jesus is in full control of the situation. While the storm would have continued to rage on, Jesus would have been there, quietly present, but in total control of everything going on around him. Peter could have remembered the message from our first reading from 1 Kings 19, which was that amidst the heavy wind, the earthquake, and the fire, the voice of the Lord was found as a tiny whispering sound, quietly present.

That is how the Lord can be for us in our own lives. While the storms in our lives are raging, Christ will continue to be quietly present in our lives, possessing full power and authority over those storms and being in complete control. Instead of focusing on those storms and trying to handle them ourselves, we are meant to keep our eyes and our attention fixed on Christ, who will see us through to the end.

Father Michael Elmlinger is a priest of the Diocese of Covington, Ky. Father Elmlinger is currently studying Canon Law at the University of St. Paul, Ottawa, Canada.