{"id":6788,"date":"2014-09-06T21:08:23","date_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=6788"},"modified":"2014-09-06T21:08:23","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:08:23","slug":"walking-on-water-19th-sunday-of-ordinary-time-10-08-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=6788","title":{"rendered":"Walking on water: 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (10.08.14)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (10.08.14)<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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Walking on water<\/strong>:At times storms of one kind or another blow up and threaten not only our peace and security but sometimes our very life.\u00a0\u00a0 At such moments we know we cannot save ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0 Only God can save us and restore calm to our troubled lives.
\nBut we must turn to Him not only in difficulty but at all times.In the Gospel, Jesus asks Peter to do something which from a human point of view made no sense whatever.\u00a0 In fact it was manifestly impossible.\u00a0\u00a0 He asked him to walk on water!
\nAlthough Peter in his trusting enthusiasm obeyed Christ and immediately jumped onto the water, his faith soon let him down, and he began to sink.\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus then reached out and saved him, saying\u00a0\u201c Man of little faith, why did you doubt!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>In our following of Christ, there may come times when He asks of us something which from a human point of view seems unthinkable.\u00a0\u00a0 Are we prepared to walk across the water of cynicism or ridicule or opposition by acting according to our conscience in keeping to the truths of our faith and in having the courage to speak out against majority rule to the contrary, when the occasion arises – even if we might have to pay the price (from a worldly point of view) for so doing.Examples of this are numerous, but maybe in the silence of our hearts it might help to pause a few moments and consider instances of such a witness we might give in our own situation –\u00a0 perhaps to do with\u00a0 justice, honesty, truth, faithfulness,\u00a0 fidelity, moral issues of different kinds, forgiveness, mercy, rash judgments, kindness, charity etc. etc.Every one of us at some time or other will be faced with very trying circumstances, difficult decisions,
\ngreat sorrows, great temptations.\u00a0\u00a0 From a human point of view, to do what is right, to do the Christian thing will often seem to be totally impossible to our weak human nature.\u00a0\u00a0 The solid ground vanishes from beneath our feet.\u00a0\u00a0 Surely it is then that we are asked to \u201cwalk on water\u201d and trust in the help of God, relying on the word of Christ, and walking in Faith.Christ was the first to walk on the waters of death without being swallowed up.
\nOne day He will call us to leave our earthly boat that has carried us through the sometimes stormy waters of this world and set out across the waters of death.
\nIf at difficult moments in our life, we have opted for Christ, then at death it will come naturally to us to reach out and take His hand.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, whether we have failed or succeeded in our life of faith, if we call out to him for forgiveness and mercy, as did the good thief on the cross, He will answer our prayer and reach out in love to haul us on to the shores of eternity, where there will be no more storms, but rather everlasting peace and happiness with Him in heaven.<\/p>\n

Lord, when the disciples were struggling against the wind and the sea, you came to them and said:\u00a0\u201cCourage!\u00a0\u00a0 It is I.\u00a0\u00a0 Do not be afraid!\u201d,\u00a0<\/em>come to us in our moments of adversity, calm our fears so that we may enjoy the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live forever and ever.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"flowers\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (10.08.14) Walking on water:At times storms of one kind or another blow up and threaten not only our peace and security but sometimes our very life.\u00a0\u00a0 At such moments we know we cannot save ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archdiocese-of-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6789,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions\/6789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}