In today’s passage from St. Matthew’s gospel, Jesus walked on the sea toward his disciples in their storm tossed boat.  He tells them, “take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”  Peter says, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  At the Lord’s invitation, Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward the Lord.  We know that this intense demonstration of faith did not last very long.  Still, its importance should not be overlooked. 

            Peter would never have considered getting out of that boat unless the Lord had called him to do so.  With the other disciples, Peter had just witnessed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes.  Peter believed with all his heart that if Jesus called him, he could walk on water.  We can only imagine the other disciples yelling, “Peter, you fool, get back in the boat!”  Peter was doing fine until he took note of the winds. 

Like Peter, we love the Lord.  And we want to believe in all that he tells us.  Some days our faith is strong and our trust is great.  With our eyes set on the Lord, we unfurl our sails and fly along with the Lord as our captain.  Then suddenly, the wind turns against us.  Perhaps someone we love gets sick, we lose a job, or some other ill winds blow into our lives.  Our ship is tossed on the waves.  Our courage fails us.  We find ourselves sinking and calling out, “Lord, save me!” 

“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  How often the Lord must repeat those words first spoken to Peter.  The challenge is to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord and not on the shifting winds.  As St. Paul reminded us last week, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?”