From: Matthew 14:22-36
Jesus Walks on the Water
[28] And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to You on the wa-
ter.” [29] He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water
and came to Jesus; [30] but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning
to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” [31] Jesus immediately reached out his
hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?”
[32] And when they got into boat, the wind ceased. [33] And those in the boat
worshipped Him, saying, “Truly You are the son of God.”
[34] And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. [35] And
when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent round to all the region and
brought to Him all that were sick, [36] and besought Him that they might only
touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
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Commentary:
22-23. It has been a very full day, like so many others. First, Jesus works many
cures (14:14) and then performs the remarkable miracle of the multiplication of
the loaves and the fish, a symbol of the future Eucharist. The crowd who have
been following Him were avid for food, teaching and consolation. Jesus “had
compassion on them” (14:14), curing their sick and giving them the comfort of
His teaching and the nourishment of food. He continues to do the same, down
the centuries, tending to our needs and comforting us with His word and with the
nourishment of His own body. Jesus must have been very moved, realizing the
vivifying effect the Blessed Sacrament would have on the lives of Christians—a
sacrament which is a mystery of life and faith and love. It is understandable that
He should feel the need to spend some hours in private to speak to His Father.
Jesus’ private prayer, in an interlude between one demanding activity and another,
teaches us that every Christian needs to take time out for recollection, to speak
to His Father, God. On Jesus’ frequent personal prayer see, for example, Mark
1:35; 6:47; Luke 5:16; 16:12. See the notes on Matthew 6:5-6 and Matthew
7:7-11.
24-33: This remarkable episode of Jesus walking on the sea must have made a
deep impression on the Apostles. It was one of their outstanding memories of the
life they shared with the Master. It is reported not only by St. Matthew, but also
by St. Mark (6:45-52), who would have heard about it from St. Peter, and by St.
John (6:14-21).
Storms are very frequent on Lake Gennesaret; they cause huge waves and are
very dangerous to fishing boats. During His prayer on the hill, Jesus is still mind-
ful of His disciples; He sees them trying to cope with the wind and the waves
and comes to their rescue once He has finished praying.
This episode has applications to Christian life. The Church, like the Apostles’
boat, also gets into difficulties, and Jesus who watches over His Church comes
to its rescue also, after allowing it to wrestle with obstacles and be strengthened
in the process. He gives us encouragement: “Take heart, it is I; have no fear”
(14:27); and we show our faith and fidelity by striving to keep an even keel, and
by calling on His aid when we feel ourselves weakening: “Lord, save me” (14:30),
words of St. Peter which every soul uses when he has recourse to Jesus, his
Savior. Then our Lord does save us, and we urgently confess our faith: “Truly
you are the Son of God” (14:33).
29-31. St. John Chrysostom (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 50) comments that in this
episode Jesus taught Peter to realize, from his own experience, that all his
strength comes from our Lord and that he could not rely on his own resources,
on his own weaknesses and wretchedness. Chrysostom goes as far as to say
that “if we fail to play our part, God ceases to help us.” Hence the reproach, ‘O
man of little faith” (14:31). When Peter began to be afraid and to doubt, he star-
ted to sink, until again, full of faith, he called out, “Lord, save me.”
If at any time we, like Peter, should begin to weaken, we too should try to bring
our faith into play and call on Jesus to save us.
34-36. Learning from the faith of these people on the shore of Lake Gennesaret,
every Christian should approach the adorable humanity of the Savior. Christ —
God and Man — is accessible to us in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
“When you approach the Tabernacle remember that He has been awaiting you
for twenty centuries” (St. J. Escrivá, “The Way”, 537).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14
True Cleanness
[10] And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand:
[11] “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the
mouth, this defiles a man.” [12] Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do
you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” [13]
He answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be
rooted up. [14] Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads
a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
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Commentary:
10-20. Our Lord proclaims the true meaning of moral precepts and makes it clear
that man has to answer to God for his actions. The scribes’ mistake consisted in
concentrating on externals and not giving pride of place to interior purity of heart.
For example, they saw prayer in terms of exact recital of fixed forms of words ra-
ther than as a raising of the soul to God (cf. Mt 6:5-6). The same thing happened
in the case of dietary regulations.
Jesus avails of the particular cases dealt with in this passage to teach us where
to find the true center of moral action: it lies in man’s personal decision, good or
evil, a decision which is shaped in his heart and which then is expressed in the
form of action. For example, the sins which our Lord lists are sins committed in
the human heart prior to being acted out. In the Sermon on the Mount he already
said this: “Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adul-
tery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:28).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.