When we are faced with the difficulties of life and tragic events, it can feel like we are drowning. In those moments when life feels unbearable, the Church reminds us that God is always right next to us holding our hand. He is always there to lift us up when we need Him. In those moments when we are weak, He is our strength. With God our heads will always be above water.
My brothers and sisters, our community has experienced a great tragedy and at some times we can feel, in these moments, that we’re drowning. Sometimes we feel that we cannot breathe, that the storms against us are so strong that we don’t think we can make it. In just those moments God reminds us of this morning’s gospel. Peter thought he was drowning. He was paying so much close attention to the storm, he forgot that Christ was right in front of him. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Jesus Christ, he believed him. But in that moment of panic, he forgot that Christ was right there waiting for him.
This is what happens to us in these moments of life that seem so unbearable that you feel like you’re going to drown. And I invite you, my brothers and sisters, to come into this church every day if that’s what it takes, and look up at that window and you see the story of this morning’s gospel, you see Peter being rescued by Christ. As he was drowning he reached out, “Lord, save me.” And immediately Christ reached out his hand and pulled him up and kept his head above water. This is how much God loves us. He will never walk away from us.
He will carry us if he has to, but he will never forget us in moments of tragedy and in moments of life’s difficulties. Maybe we lose a job. Maybe in this hurricane season, we lose our home, we lose our livelihood. Anything can happen at any time. But, my brothers and sisters, God wants all of us to remember he’s right there holding our hand. And when we don’t think we are strong enough, he is our strength. He is the one that holds us up. He is the one that walks with us through the storm until the very end.
In this morning’s gospel, it’s always important to remember that when Jesus was walking with Peter on the water back to the boat, the storm was still raging. It wasn’t until they got back in the boat, and another version of the story says when the boat got to the land, then the storm ended. So even with Christ holding our hands, we’re going to feel the storm beating upon us. But in those moments, I want you always to remember, God is there holding our hand and he will never let go. We can try and push him away, we can try and close our eyes, but God will never let go of us.
And so words are insufficient. But when words fail, God’s grace fills the gap. In this week, my brothers and sisters, God’s grace has come upon our community to hold us up and to walk with us and to keep us together and strong. And I will tell you that the love that I have seen other people show this week is an inspiration to me and a reminder that our community is deep in faith. Our community is deep in love, and we’ll always be there to hold each other up because we are the people of God and we are one family together in love. May God continue to strengthen us, to hold us up and I pray most importantly, let we never forget that God is with us right here, right now holding our hand. May God’s peace be with us and his strength. Glory to God for always.
