Number 203 - February 2001

Jesus is present in the storms of our lives

Father FINET

ALOUETTE N° 203

WORDS OF FATHER FINET

"Peter walks on the waters"...

"Then He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. The boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them" (Matth. 14, 22-33).

Imagine now what the apostles, all experienced fishermen, may have thought : "Come now, You must be out of your mind to send us on that stormy lake". In fact, the wind, coming down from the Great Hermon along the Jordan valley, rushes as if from a trumpet pipe on the lake surface, bumping it and blowing the waters against the east side rocks, then bouncing back furiously towards the west banks, causing floods around Magdala, Tiberiade and most other cities along the coast. It is always quite risky to sail under such bad conditions. And here comes Jesus forcing them to take the boat again... He does not know how risky it is, He, the carpenter's son... However, though grumbling, they obey... In his gospel, Saint Mark gives us complementary details on this episode. After they had rowed for many hours, they moved forward only five kilometres, out of ten or twelve they had to cross. They are marking time. Impossible to get under sail, as the winds are too high. They are bound to row in the midst of the storm.

And while they become so exhausted, they feel that Jesus has let them down for good...

Each one of us in his own life may experience such moments when Jesus asks us to move forward through the storm of life. We all receive the same lesson if we put our trust in Jesus.

From the mountain top where He is praying, Jesus can see the apostles drudging at the oars. He prays for them. And yet Jesus does not intervene. When does He intervene ? According to the text, between 3 and 6 o'clock a.m. He has let them battle with the waves during nearly five hours, marking time, and unable to go forward nor to come back. At which moment does Jesus intervene ? When He thinks it is more appropriate for their soul. There come times when we are in the storm, in barrenness, feeling depressed. Does Jesus let us down ? In our afflictions Jesus sees us ; He does not abandon us.

When shall He come ? At the time He judges to be the best. Remember that the Holy Spirit steps in our life when we least expect Him, but always at the most favourable time, according to God's vision on us. And within this vision, "the time of God is never the time of our eagerness, but the time of grace" (St François de Sales). The Christian is one who never sees where he puts his next step. We must know it... and live with it.

It is I, have no fear !

"And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying :"It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them (listen well because He says the same to each one of us) :"Take heart, it is I ; have no fear !" Take good note of these words ! Has not Jesus promised to stand forever beside his apostle, his baptized one...
At this point, Peter answered Him :"Lord, if it is You, bid me come to you on the water". Peter's prayer was granted at once. "Come", said Jesus. So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, coming towards Jesus... (on stormy waters...!). But when he saw the force of the wind, he was afraid and began to sink. So he cried out "Lord, save me". Jesus immediately reached out his hand... and caught him, saying to him :"O man of little faith ! Why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped Him, saying "Truly, You are the Son of God!"

They surely had an awful scare in the boat !... You can guess a little, when Peter began to sink and the boat pitched and nobody was in sight... You will notice that Jesus comes towards them walking on the waters, and very choppy waters they are. Jesus is coming and they do not recognize Him. And instead of being enlightened, they are totally upset...

The Lord comes along with us, and very often we do not identify Him. We are afraid and we cry out : it is a ghost ! Indeed we say this practically word for word... The coming of Jesus in our life is often an upsetting event. Example : a health problem ! One is inclined to say :"Come on, Lord, You don't mean it!" When we have become exhausted crying, we come gradually to listen. The Lord has suddenly put a stop to my activity, which may have turned to activism, who knows ? Remember Ignatius of Loyola and his broken leg at the siege of Pampelune. God always comes to us in our lives through obedience.

What is Jesus' answer when He gets close to his apostles who are crying and fearful ? His answer is very reassuring : "Take heart, it is I, fear not !" Jesus says it to his apostles a total of fourteen times throughout the Gospel. You see, Jesus never frightens anyone ; fear comes from Satan. Fear has been introduced into the world along with sin. When Adam and Eve did commit sin, they experienced fear and hid themselves. When God calls to them from the breeze, He says on a fatherly tone : "So, you have eaten, my little one!" We must read the text in order to perceive the paternal accent of God...

Let us admire the tactfulness of Jesus ' heart :"Fear not, it is I who is present in this accident ; it is I who is there in this humiliation, in this difficulty. I am with you. Do not be afraid, it is I!" But then, Peter reacts immediately :"Lord, if it is really You, (watch the sentence...) bid me come to You on the water !" And Jesus answers him at once "Come ! ".

Let us notice one thing : practically Peter makes an extraordinary request to Jesus, an impossible one. The water is surging ; and he asks Jesus to have him walk on that raging sea. You see, to each one of us, Jesus says : "Come" ! For, as I told you, if God is the God who comes, we in turn must be the child who comes. As the Father comes to us, we must go to the Father. You should not stand praying in front of the God who is, but also in front of the God who comes, and who does come in all circumstances of your life, through all kinds of ways.

You can see now what He does when coming through the most trying circumstances of our life, and in stormy situations, God comes ! To this forthcoming God we must ask, as Peter did, to lead us to Him. And Jesus will say :"Come!" For Jesus has a love of preference for each one of us : it is the Father's love which passes through Jesus' heart. This call is the foundation of our trust.

When the Lord calls us to a vocation, we have nothing to fear about, since the call comes from God ! When I say vocation, I don't mean the religious life aspect only !... marriage vocation, celibacy vocation. We are all immersed in some vocation, being called by the Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He tells us :"Come" Clearly, we have nothing to fear ; we must be

capable of walking on the waters ! Why is that ? Because God is the master of the impossible ! Never should we forget this.

It is through difficulty that I must go to GOD

"Lord, bid me come to You on the water !" Why don't we address this prayer to the Lord from time to time ? We look too much at the obstacle or the difficulty ; and of course we magnify it. Looking at it too much, we aggravate it. Actually what does Peter express ? "I am not asking You to command the waves to calm down, but command me to walk towards You on the stormy waves". Most likely I would have said it differently, something like : "Lord, have the storm calm down first, and when everything stands still, have me come to You on the waters!"

Peter did ask to go to Him on rough waters. Such is the answer to any problem in spiritual life. Basically the obstacle shall become the way for me. It is through the obstacle that I must go to God. For the obstacle may come from our inclinations, from our temptations, our character or our passions ; it may crop up from our profession or from various circumstances ; it may come from any thing ! In other words, it is through difficulty and affliction that I go to God. We must not go to God saying :"Lord; take this obstacle away quick, and then I will go to You". No, this would be a terrible mistake from a spiritual aspect. The lesson is quite important for our spiritual life.

What does Peter do ? He lays foot on the water. So, the obstacle happens to be for him the way to the Lord. Our deficiencies, our sins, our hindrances,... they all are means to go to God. For how long, how many meters did Peter walk on the waters ? The Gospel does not say. Well, should we say 500 meters ? No, it seems too long a distance. Would we agree on 50 ? Right ? Let us say 50 meters then. Well, let us imagine Peter walking 50 meters towards Jesus on the rough waters of the sea.

Among you, some are parents, with children who probably know how to draw. Ask your little boy or girl, 11 or 12 years old, to make a sketch of the following scene : ... Peter walking on the waters towards Jesus. Look at Peter's eyes, as designed by your child. Where is Peter looking while advancing towards Jesus ? No child shall mistake ... he is looking at Jesus.

Now, do you know what happened ? I cannot see myself for what reason Peter got scared; but he looked at the waves, he looked at the wind. Do you know what else he did... ? he looked at his feet, and he started to sink ! Therefore, the conclusion : in spiritual life, one must never look at his feet ! That's it ! And this is high mystic ! In other words, one must not retire within oneself, but always step forward looking at God, at the Holy Virgin, at Jesus ; our attention set firmly on God who comes to us constantly : our Father, our Father !

But as soon as one retires within himself, he sinks. To retire within oneself, it is kind of a preview of hell ; because hell will be the everlasting folding back on oneself, without any other look but at oneself, oneself, and oneself forever. It is sheer hell ! And the fruits of retiring within oneself are disgust, depression, sadness. Numerous people nowadays are fed up, disgusted and sad, because they fold back on themselves and analyse themselves all the time. The opposite then is to walk looking towards God ; in other words, it is trust ! "We have boldness of access to God through our faith in Him" (Eph. 3). It is Jesus' great message, the one He brought us after we had lost it since the original sin through Adam's fault, to wit that God is Father, and our Father ; a Father who has but one desire, which is to join with his child. How you understand what your attitude is as a Christian : Trust, trust, trust !"

(Excerpts from a retreat conference)