Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water

10 AUGUST (Mt 14,22-33)

History is always a sea in storm. In it everything goes adrift, everything disappears and vanishes. Everything is swallowed by a monstrous vortex without leaving any trace. It sees the decline of great civilizations, the decline of peoples and nations, the disappearance of large kingdoms and excellent empires. It is as if famous dynasties had never existed. Even religions feel the roar of the waves and also remain torn, bewildered, bruised and unable to return to the splendour of yesterday.

Jesus teaches us that to go through history you have to walk on water. He teaches us the secret so that this can happen. It is necessary to make the body light, very light, in all it has to be brought to the dimension of the spirit and the soul. In order to achieve such a high spiritualization of our body, there is only one way: freeing it from every sin, every transgression, every disobedience to the commandments, every neglect of the Word of life. It needs to be kept away even from small venialities. Then, it is necessary to be coated with all holy virtues in a heroic way. Virtue and body must be one, as the skin and body are one.

However, all this is still not sufficient. You must have the Spirit of Prayer. The Holy Spirit must become in us the prayerful soul always turned toward the Father. Our heart and that of the Father must form a single heart in his communion. The Father’s will and our will, always in communion with the Holy Spirit, must become one. Every desire of the Father and our desires must be only one desire, always in the communion of the Spirit of God. In the Holy Spirit that grows in us, we become light, not heavy, we can walk on history, because we are carried by him as if on wings eagle.

We are in history for his redemption. We are above history because we are redeemed. We walk over history not to be overwhelmed by its evil, by its sin, its deceit and the lie that reigns in it. Jesus reached the highest peak of his spiritualization on the cross, when he totally annihilated himself in his humanity as well as divinity, in order to be on it and from it, only most pure love of redemption and salvation. So also the disciple of Jesus in the persecution of history he is spiritualized because he denies his humanity and is transformed into a true love of justification for his brothers. This is the truth of the Christian. Other truths are falsities, lies, deception and error. They are real temptation for him.

Then he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once (Jesus) spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how (strong) the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

The Church, the body of Jesus Christ, is called, like her Master to walk over history for her redemption and salvation. Like her Master she must live pure, cleansed and free from all sin. Like her Master she must plunge day after day in the Holy Spirit to become in him perfect communion with the Father of Heaven. Since materialization often invades and pervades her, here is that the Spirit of the Lord breaks on it and from the inside renews, regenerates and puts her back on the surface, he raises her so that she resumes her place. If it were not for the constant work of the Holy Spirit, the Church also would suffer the destruction of history.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints, help us walk properly.