“Lord, save me!”

 

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

There's a lot to unpack in today's gospel from St. Matthew. The first thing that touches my heart is at the beginning. After dismissing the crowds and sending the disciples into the boat to precede him to the other side of the sea, the Lord went up the mountain to pray. All throughout the gospels the Lord teaches us the importance of being alone with God in prayer and meditation. We can do that in many different ways. The Lord chose to go up the mountain to be with God and to pray and meditate. For myself, I often pray and meditate alone in the morning just after rising. I take my breviary and bible, and I take time to pray and focus on what God is trying to tell me in the Divine Office and the readings assigned for mass that day. It is during this time alone that helps me get closer to the Lord and to try to be open to what God is trying to teach me for that day. It's important for me to have scripture as part of my daily meditation so that I can allow God to speak to me through the Holy Bible. I encourage this routine for anyone trying to get closer to God. Find a time of day, whether in the morning or the evening, to be quiet with God and to meditate on the Word of God in your life.

The other part of today's Gospel that touches me is the storm that breaks out and there's the Lord walking towards them. They failed to recognize him at first, but he reassures them that it is truly him that is coming towards them on the water. He invites Peter to walk on the waters towards him. At first, Peter is walking on the water towards Jesus. But as soon as he takes his eyes off of the Lord he starts to sink. He then prays, "Lord, save me!" The Lord extends his hand and Peter is saved.

How many times during our lives do we take our spiritual eyes off of Jesus and then to start having problems in our lives (which are pretty much the storms of our lives)? It is during these "storms" in our lives that we need to pray to Jesus, "Lord, save me!" Jesus will always extend his hands towards us and brings us the peace and comfort that we need to deal with whatever issues we are facing. It's always important to keep reaching out to Jesus in good times and bad times so that we can have the peace and comfort that can only come from Him.