In today's Gospel, our Lord does something very interesting and yet also essential.
He seems to abandon the disciples and most particularly the apostles because the key is the last passage of Scripture
that tells us, on the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
It is not in the sense that they were hardened sinners, but rather they had become complacent in the miracles that the Lord had worked
and simply thought that with the Lord present, everything would be fine.
But indeed, he came to establish in this world the church and so the church would be rocked with trials and tribulations
and most especially those trials and tribulations would be directed at St. Peter and all the apostles in union with him.
That is, the bark of Peter would be tossed about by the trials and tribulations of this world.
The miracles that the Lord worked, as always, are a consolation.
They are a consolation and also a call to faith, but often they are not the common lot in the church
for faith often does not grow during times of consolation as it does in time of trial and tribulation.
And so, the Lord seems to abandon the apostles in the ship being tossed about by the sea.
He sets out for the boat, but with the intention of passing by.
Therefore, he wishes to elicit strong faith from St. Peter
and the apostles gathered in the bark and when they show themselves fearful,
the Lord says, to take courage in his eye.
And thereupon, he enters the boat and the seas the trials and the tribulations are calmed down.
And so, essentially, this lesson intended to strengthen the apostles is also intended to
strengthen each and every member of the mystical body.
For St. Peter
and his successor
and all those bishops in union with him
are the visible heads of the church
with St. Peter, the vicar of Christ,
that is, the one to whom
all the mysteries of the church
has been entrusted.
But St. Peter is the vicar,
he is not the head,
and so the Lord enters into the boat
in order to indicate
that he is the captain of that ship
and hence the head of the church.
And so we truly have nothing to fear
for the same Christ
who worked the miracles
in order to show that he truly was
the creator God
and also who calms the wind
in order to indicate
that he has power and authority
over all things
is the head of the church.
He is not visible to us today
as he was to the apostles,
but he leads the church
to his Eucharistic presence
as if he were present
in the time of the apostles
today.
And so we truly have nothing to fear
for the Eucharistic presence.
One of the things it does,
it allows the Lord to captain his ship
at all times and all places
because it does not restrict him
to a particular locality
as his visible presence
as man did during the time
of the apostles.
And so it is a great lesson
that we are all to take consolation in
for the Lord came in order to establish
the church not for the destruction
of sinners, but that she be
the refuge of sinners.
And so,
no man truly has any reason
to fear the church,
no matter how weak
the church members may be,
no matter how much she is rocked
by trials and tribulations,
whether they are caused externally
from the enemies of the church
or internally through the sinful practices
of those within the church,
whether it be from the simplest
lay member to the highest
prelate in the church.
We are fallible human beings
incapable of sin, and as our
times tells us, capable of great sin
and extraordinary crimes,
even against the most innocent.
But that is not the faith that we have.
We have faith that the church
is established by Jesus Christ,
who is the captain of the church,
and so she truly is impeccable,
while the members of the church
are always peccable, that is,
always capable of sin.
But as many of the saints have pointed out,
it is better to be a sinful member of the church,
within the institution,
having recourse always to the channels
of God's mercy, than to be outside
where there is only the wailing
and the gnashing of teeth.
And so, let us take this lesson
from Scripture to strengthen us
to always remain faithful
to the church, knowing that we have
a good head, and hence,
strengthened by this, we may endure
the trials and the tribulations
as the apostles would do,
and go forth through the whole world
preaching the gospel.
Amen.
Good news, that Jesus came,
that Jesus Christ came in order to deliver us
from our sins, to establish the church,
the refuge of sinners, and the only safe haven
in this world, in order that he may take us
for all eternity in the world to come.
And so, it is a lesson intended to strengthen
both the heart of St. Peter and the apostles,
but also the hearts of every member of the church,
that with Christ, we have nothing to fear,
and Christ truly is the head of the church,
and we its body, that is, we its members.
And so, truly, we are led not merely by humans,
but by the God-man who came in the flesh
in order to establish his institute, the church,
so that no heart becomes hardened in sin
and perseveres in that hardness
until the end of time.
But he came to establish a means
by which all men, every man, woman, and church,
every man, woman, and child that he has created
or will create, has an opportunity in this life
to enter into the mystical body of Christ,
work out its salvation in fear and trembling,
and after a time of trial and tribulation in this life,
be brought to the glory of heaven and the life to come.
And so, we have great reason to rejoice,
for the Lord truly has done all things wonderfully well.
olhos misericodes, oculos vanos converte
Et estum benedictum fructum ventris tuum
Thank you.