Hand
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).
I have been reflecting on my failures. It is a very good thing that God – in His wisdom – created me as a human being and not as an angel. Angels are pure spirits and that means that they have a clearer understanding of who God is because they are closer in form to God. This is because we humans are mortal beings. We are physical and spiritual. It is our physicality – our mortality – that gets int the way of our understanding of God. While no being could ever understand the Creator fully, there is a clearer view where we can actually see Him in front of us and recognise Him for what He really is and where He really is…
If I were an angel, God would expect more of me. This makes sense, because if I could understand more of God then I could be capable of doing more to please Him… This is why the angels received one chance to choose God and His Holy Will. If they decided to reject the Will of God then they were not offered a second chance – they were cast into Hell, which is an absence of God.
We humans are afforded many more chances than this… We are afforded our entire Earthly lives to try to choose the Holy Will of God. Sometimes we get better with time, but many other times, we get much worse. Sometimes we are unable to improve enough and it takes a shock or a scare or some other life event to help us to change. God allows us these chances. And even then – provided we do not die in a state of mortal sin – we have an opportunity to atone for our sins in Purgatory…
There is a story in the Gospel about Saint Simon Peter who saw Christ walking on water and asked Christ to beckon him to step out onto the water… I have often reflected on that scene. My mother never learned to swim. When she was a little girl there was a tendency for teachers to throw children into pools and water and tell them to “sink or swim”. I suppose that this worked well for some children, but for others like my mother and some of her siblings, this was a really shocking thing that caused them to fear water very much. Saint Simon Peter could not swim. And like many people who cannot swim, he would have been terrified to put himself into the water. And when the water was rough and the sea was out of control, it would have been frightening – even for a very experienced swimmer… And so, Saint Simon Peter did his best to be faithful, but ultimately, he failed in that faith…
“When he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him” (Matthew 14:30–31).
The part of the story that I am focused on today is not that ultimate failure of Saint Simon Peter – for my lack of faith is even worse – but rather, I am focused on the response of Christ… Christ did not see Saint Peter failing and give him a lecture or wait for him to improve. Rather He responded IMMEDIATELY by reaching out a HAND to the Saint…
And this is not to say that Christ ignored the failure – He addressed it – LATER, when Saint Peter was with Him and safe… “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).
And I give thanks to my Beloved today, for the Faith that He has granted to me, and to the Hand that He holds out to me – every single time I fail…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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