August 9, 2026
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Mt 14:22-33

Today is the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The passage taken from the Holy Gospel of Saint Matthew presents to us the narrative of Jesus walking on the water. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.

First of all, Matthew tells us: Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side of the sea. It was then that He dismissed the crowds. Afterward, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. (Cf. Mt 14:22-23)

We see a Jesus who is completely different from usual. He did not choose to go with the disciples but went up the mountain to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. What was He doing there? He was with His Heavenly Father.

Subsequently, Saint Matthew shows us the boat battered by the waves and sailing against the wind. (Cf. Mt 14:24-27) We know that the boat is a symbol of the Church, and the sea is the dwelling place of the devil, because it constantly devours life. A boat battered by the waves and sailing against the wind is exactly what the pilgrim Church experiences. When the Church encounters adversity, any change will fill her with fear. Those brothers and sisters who have left Jesus, their souls are filled with all kinds of fears, which causes them to look at God, who suddenly appears in their lives, according to the logic of this world. This will cause them, just like the disciples in the Gospel passage, to regard God who suddenly appears as a ghost.

The dialogue between Peter and Jesus presented to us by Matthew in this Gospel passage (Cf. Mt 14:28-33) allows us to see our own reflection in Peter. We too want to verify whether God’s word is true according to our own ideas. At the beginning, we too, like Peter, are willing to try to go toward God; but when we encounter some setbacks or some uncertain factors, we shrink back. Yet Jesus is still there; He is always ready to support us. Only if we truly welcome Him and choose to walk with Him can we find peace and joy.

I think: some fellow believers might ask: If this is so, then why does God allow us to go through such setbacks and uncertainties? To these fellow believers, I would say: God wishes us to go through these in order to strengthen our faith, cultivate our longing for Him, and thereby give rise to charity. Just as Saint Paul the Apostle teaches: Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Cf. Rom 5:2-5) Only in this way can we feel His presence.

Almighty ever-living God,
whom, taught by the Holy Spirit,
we dare to call our Father,
bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts
the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters,
that we may merit to enter into the inheritance
which you have promised.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica