Meditation of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa for the XIX Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Below you can find the Meditation of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, for the XIX Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, Sunday 13th of August 2023.
Mt.14:22-33
Last Sunday, on the Feast of the Transfiguration, we heard a Gospel passage (Mt 17:1-9) about a theophany, which occurred on a mountain, Mount Tabor.
Today as well, the Gospel tells us about a theophany that occurred not on a mountain, but in the middle of a lake, Lake Tiberias (Mt 14:22-33).
More precisely, the theophany takes place in the midst of a stormy lake: We are no longer on the quiet and calm mountaintop, where Jesus had ascended to find, in peace, the space of intimate dialogue with the Father, but amid the threatening waves of the lake, shaken by a strong wind.
There the Lord reveals Himself, and this is an important first element, because perhaps we all need to know that God dwells in our storms, that He reveals Himself and comes to us even in our darkest and most difficult moments. Even there, there is a Word for us, and this passage can really help us to hear the Word of the Lord hidden in the storm.
In the middle of the stormy lake, the disciples, alone, see Jesus coming toward them, but they do not recognize Him: they think He is a ghost (Mt 14:26) and so they feel great fear. The Gospel does not say that the disciples were afraid of the storm: what frightened them is this presence. They could not recognize it, or define it, as they were experiencing the reality of it. This presence overcomes them.
And that is why it makes them think of a ghost.
What is a ghost? A ghost is something that was alive, but is no longer, and becomes present with its death. Someone who has more contact with the realm of the dead than with the realm of the living, someone who has no words and therefore can be frightened.
Which led for the disciples to be afraid and cry out (Mt 14:26). Simply, Jesus calmed their fear by speaking to them in the same manner a mother would speak to calm her child's fears.
Jesus speaks, and he says two basic things…
This Meditation was originally published on the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Please click here to read the full text.