Peter beginning to drown, cried out, Jesus save me!

"When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified."  (Matthew 14: 26).

The disciples were afraid to see Jesus walking on a violent sea as their boat was tossed about by the strong wind. In this state of confusion, they heard the familiar voice:
"“Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”  (Matthew 14: 27).

Now the real drama is about to start:
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!”   (Matthew 14: 28 - 30).

The Lord Jesus reveals here that He is Master of nature.  All things serve Him. (Psalm 119: 19).
Do you believe this?
Yes Lord, I believe. Increase my faith.

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I love You, O Lord, my strength.

"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!  Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.  (Deuteronomy 6: 4 - 5).

What does it mean to love the LORD with all your heart? Like you love your wife, children or friends with all your heart?
No. There is an important difference. Your wife or your husband can never claim to be the First Person in your life. He or she will be claiming to be God who has made that claim already for Himself. This is why the Church teaches that we worship and honor God with with a special level of worship called LATRIA. But for saints and angels, we honor them with DULIA. LATRIA WORSHIP Or ADORATION is reserved for God alone.

We love God with all our heart when we love Him above all things in heaven and on earth. We prefer Him to everything in heaven and on earth.  Always and Everywhere.

"I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer." (Psalm 18: 2 - 3).

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Call upon Me at the time of need and I will answer you.

"I remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I remember your wonders of old.
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder."  (Psalm 77:  12 - 13 RM).

How often do you pause to remember and celebrate God's wonderful deeds in your life?
For example:
Your Baptism, Wedding.
Unexpected healing, Financial emancipation and  relief from Debt crisis.  And so forth and so on.

Why is remembering God's wonderful works in our life so powerful in lifting us up from despondency? We know that what happened before can happen again. The fire of hope is lighted. And we feel gratitude and love for the one who relieved us in the past at the moment of dire need. We are emboldened to ask for help in the present crisis. God's standing promise can be claimed: "Call upon me at the time of need and I will answer you."  (Psalm 50: 15) 

Satan being the father of lies and deception will give anything to cause us to forget God's merciful deeds.

The Holy Spirit causes us to remember God's wonderful deeds in our lives.  Ask Him every day to remind you.

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Sow abundantly and reap likewise.

"Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."  (2 Corinthians 9: 6)

The Lord Jesus says that pagans and unbelievers are always thinking of what to eat and clothes. In order words, they are preoccupied with money all day long. (Cf Matthew 6: 31 - 32).

Consider sowing and reaping genuine riches not just money or material things:
If you sow Prayer, you reap peace and calmness.
If you sow the Word of God, you reap wisdom and discernment.
If you sow Eucharist, you reap intimacy with Jesus.
If you sow Reconciliation, you reap a clean conscience.
If you sow Examination of conscience, you reap purity of heart.
If you sow Ministry, you will be ministered to when in need.
If you sow Spiritual Reading, you will reap understanding and spiritual insight.

Sow! Sow! Sow!

"Let each one give [thoughtfully and with purpose] just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver [and delights in the one whose heart is in his gift]."  (2 Corinthians 9: 7 AMP).

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O woman, great is your faith!

"Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour."  (Matthew 15: 28).

Who is this woman of great faith?
"A Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.”  (Matthew 15: 21).

Wherever Jesus meets great faith, He is full of praise.  Is faith the secret missing ingredient in your life? It certainly appears to be so in my life.  I desire great faith. I pray for stupendous faith. And now, I leave the rest to God.

"She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured." (Matthew 9: 21 - 22)

Your faith can save you for Heaven, the ultimate goal and reward. And while here on earth, through your faith, you can taste Heaven even here on earth.

Since faith is a supernatural gift of God who encourages us to ask, seek, knock and we shall receive, find and enter, (Matthew 7:7)  let us approach the throne of grace with confidence to ask for this faith now and at every time of need.  (Hebrews 4: 16)

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Why, then, did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?

"Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses..... They complained, “Is it through Moses alone that the Lord has spoken? Has he not spoken through us also?”  (Numbers 12: 1, 2).

There are all types of sins. But questioning God's authority is to be avoided at all cost. There are men and women in the Church today who question the authority of Jesus over His decision that the priesthood is a reserved ministry for men.  Is this attitude borne of culpable ignorance or presumption?

"And the Lord heard this.  Now the man Moses was very humble, more than anyone else on earth."  (Numbers 12: 2, 3)
Why, then, do you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?  And so the Lord’s wrath flared against them, and he departed."  (Numbers 12: 8-9).

Many of us will leap to defend ourselves. Why not allow God to defend us as He defended Moses.  This is the quality in the lives of saints that I admire the most. Take for example: The 35 Doctors of the Church, men and women had outrageous slander against each and every one of them. The crimes they were charged with were invariably sex or money. Even Mother St Teresa of Kolkata who was canonized about a year ago was accused of being greedy for money. This is a person whom everybody knows was as poor as a Church mouse. The attack was to make her quit begging for money for the poor. She did not fall for such trap.

Today is the Memorial of St Dominic, the holy founder of the Order of St Dominic, officially known as Order of Preachers. St Dominic had more than his fair share of all types of accusations inspired by the Satan.

St Dominic pray for us.

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Because of food, the people were ready to rebel against God.

 “If only we had meat for food!  We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.  But now we are famished; we have nothing to look forward to but this manna.”  (Numbers 11:  4 - 6).

The journey to the Promised Land was a test of patience, endurance, faith, courage and humility for the Israelites. It was a very severe test. They failed. They lost their patience in spite of the fact that they still had the manna to eat. They looked back to former days in Egypt. They complained against God and Moses.

"He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by bread alone that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD."  (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Abba Father, forgive us our grumbling, complaining and criticizing You.  Give us the humility, patience and gratitude we need to follow You in our life journey.  Amen.

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