Tag archieven: Pope Francis

Walking on water. Logistics of the Spirit

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Homily on the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time on August 13, 2023 Wijk bij Duurstede (The Netherlands)

It is striking that before he started his long journey to Jerusalem, Jesus was active for some time in the area around Lake Genesaret. Such a huge inland sea seems like a barrier for a wandering rabbi. Because you can’t walk on water. You travel much faster by ship than on foot. This applies not only to the crossing to the other side, but also to the places along the coastline.
By using a ship, it appears that Jesus proceeded with great deliberation in his proclamation of the kingdom of God. Occasionally, fishing boats also served as a stage. Moreover, his first disciples were fishermen who were very familiar with the waters of Lake Genesareth
We can learn from this that we may also proceed with deliberation in the proclamation of the Gospel. I give a modern example. Last week the World Youth Days were held in Lisbon in de presence of pope Franciscus. About one and a half million young people from Portugal, Europe and around the world attended. The first World Youth Days were organized in 1984 at the initiative of Pope John Paul II. Since then, this international youth meeting has taken place almost every other year. The young people have now returned from Portugal, including to our diocese and our parishes. They will never forget what they have experienced with countless others. It makes them feel jointly responsible for the church in their own environment from now on.
Forty years ago, World Youth Days did not exist at all. Now they can’t be ignored again. Everyone understands how much needed they are. They are an example of how the church can reach people with the message of God’s kingdom through policy and counsel.
Similarly, Jesus acted wisely by using small boats in the proclamation of the Gospel. He thanked God, his Father, for opening the hearts of the people to his message, but that did not mean that he went without a plan.The water of the lake turned out to be an excellent means to carry out his mission very energetically
But water has its own dangers and drawbacks. Especially on Lake Genesareth. The Gospel of Matthew tells two stories about this. We just heard one of them 1). About Jesus appearing to his disciples in the dead of night while the toiling with the wind and the waves does not make any progress. In an earlier story Matthew tells that the disciples are afraid they will perish in a sudden storm, while Jesus is sleeping 2). They awaken their master and cry out in fear, “Lord, don’t you care that we perish?” Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves so that they lay down. Jesus thus taught his disciples that his mission came from God, and that nothing and no one could prevent Jesus from reaching his goal and completing his mission on earth. But in this Sunday’s story there is no mention of a storm. Not even because of the students’ fear of the waves. Of course they struggle with it. The disciples presumare afraid, but this time not for the wind and the waves. They are near exhaustion. They feel abandoned. Also by their master himself who ordered them to sail home without him. They are afraid but of something completely different.
When Jesus suddenly comes to them on foot across the lake, they think they see a ghost. That is why they tremble with fear. “Take courage” says Jesus “It is I”. They recognize his voice. Now there is only one in the Bible who can say, “I am.” Absolutely and without further explanation. That is only God. Jesus appears here in his divine form. As a foreman, Peter reacts very alertly. “Lord, if it is indeed you, tell me to come to you.” All exhaustion and frustration is over. He is immediately ready to follow Jesus. Ready for the challenges that await him. All attention now turns to Peter as the foreman of the apostles.
“Come” says Jesus as he said earlier at the first call of the apostles: “Come, follow me”. Just like then, without thinking twice, Peter gets out of the boat to join Jesus. But then when he does not look at the Lord for a moment, but at the waves, he loses ground under his feet and threatens to sink. Some interpreters think that Peter is here being punished for presumptuous conduct. But what is presumptuous about obeying the voice of the Lord? Let’s take a look at the man who now holds the Petrine ministry: Pope Francis.
Last year he started the synodal process. A huge challenge. Many said to each other, “This is going nowhere. I’m not participating. Loss of time and energy”. Others said: ‘it will be chaos, all these different views on crucial matters’. Still others: “This is contrary to the hierarchical structure of the Church. The bishops deal with the doctrine and morals of the Church. Ordinary believers should not comment on that.”
Do you think that Pope Francis, who has of course heard all those dissenting voices, has not had the feeling in recent times, just like Peter, that the ground sank under his feet when he saw all the dissenting voices and problems? Not only as a person, but also as the highest leader of the Church in our time? Do you not think that at such a time he lifted up his hands and cried out, “Lord, save me?” We may hope and pray that we have such a human pope.Jesus grabs Peter’s hand and says, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” He does not say: ‘if you were not sure, then you should not have started it, but: ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt’. In other words: “You knew you could rely on me, didn’t you? I have not abandoned you. I wanted to show you that I am always with you. “Don’t hesitate any longer”.
Of course, Pope Francis has not recklessly embarked on the challenge of the Synodal process that will conclude in Rome at the beginning of October with the Episcopal Conference. On the contrary, it is a sign of policy and consultation for the church to continue its mission in our time with modern means and possibilities and to involve the entire church in this. Like on Lake Genesareth, may we be open to the discovery that Christ is near and saves when we stretch out our hand to him. And let us also discover and recognize God’s presence in our situation. and with all the crew of the ship of the Church say:  “Truly thou art the Son of God”

Martin Los,

1) Matthew 14:22-33
2) Matthew 8:23-28

Easter. Not back tot the past, but back to the beginning

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Sermon on the 3rd Sunday of Easter May 1, 2022 Wijk bij Duurstede

It goes without saying that during the Easter season we hear the gospel stories about the appearances of Jesus as the risen Lord. The purpose of these apparitions is that Jesus shows his disciples how he is always with them now that death has been defeated, through his infinite love. Jesus doesn’t play hide-and-seek with his disciples, to put it a bit disrespectfully. He just wants to show that he is always with them, although we sometimes feel that they are left alone. Of course, what applies to the relationship of Jesus and his apostles after Easter, also applies to the whole Church, and also to us as Christians who believe in the Resurrection of our Lord.
What is striking about this Sunday’s Gospel is that some of the apostles went to Lake Tiberias. That is the place where Jesus called his first disciples. So now that Jesus is no longer with them in the usual way, they begin at the beginning of their encounter with Jesus and their calling when they first heard the promise, “I will make you become fishers of men.” Perhaps this also contains some good advice for the church today and for us as believers. That if we don’t know how to proceed as a church and as believers, we start at that beginning. That we remember where and how Jesus first touched and called us. Do we remember that? Do we still cherish that? The moment when our faith was no longer a matter of upbringing and of our environment, but that we felt personally addressed and in what phase of life and under what circumstances. Sometimes we just have to start over from that beginning.
As did Peter and his fellow apostles. For look, who is standing there on the shore of the lake? A man who calls to them, “Friends, do you have some fish?” Are we hearing that right? He calls out “friends”. At the last supper, Jesus said, “I have called you friends, for a servant does not know what his master does, but I have made known to you all that the Father has said to me. It was not you who chose me, but I chose you.” That unknown man on the bank calls them friends. It is the one who called them. It’s him again. Nothing changed yet. “Do you have some fish for me?” “No” they say.
“Just cast yourself out on the other side.” The next moment the nets are filled with fish as if attracted by a magnet. Wasn’t that also true at the time when Jesus commanded them to cast their nets? “It is the Lord,” says the apostle Jesus loved to Peter.
When we have the courage as church and believers to return to the beginnings when the church or our personal faith was still in its infancy, we will also begin to hear the voice of the Lord again. And that starts with listening. Listening to the Lord calling us “friends”. How wonderful, how promising. Also listen to each other: “It is the Lord” says the apostle, whom Jesus loved very much. Peter in charge listens to him. And he steps into the water to be the first to be with Jesus.
Starting at the beginning, doing when faith and church are still in their infancy, that is what Pope Francis means by “towards a synodal church”. Peter listens to John. “It’s the Lord!” The ministry in our church is important. It is an order that Jesus himself established. But the church is also full of persons, men and women, whom Jesus loves very much. Ordinary believers, who precisely because of this intuitively sense where the Lord is at work and which way he shows us. Let’s listen to each other. Let us look forward with prayer and sincere interest to the outcome of the synodal process in the parishes, the dioceses, our country, Europe, the whole world. But above all, let us also continue with the conversation of faith as Christians among each other and with our fellow human beings. The net that Peter and his followers have cast threatens to tear, it is so full. There were a hundred and fifty-three pieces. Would they have counted the fish one by one? Or is this a wink for the good listener. For 153 is a singular signifying a fulness number, the number of all the nations united that should come to serve God.

“I promise you that you will become fishers of men.” Where they previously felt alone and powerless, they now know that Jesus is always with them to reinforce His promises. We always have to go back to that beginning. Then we will trust again that church and faith do not depend on our success, but on the Lord who calls us. In the end, it’s about countless people. One hundred and forty-four thousand keeps the vision of the Revelation. That is not our arithmetic number, but a number that tells us that what begins with the twelve apostles is multiplied ad infinitum. A net that threatens to burst so full. Who knows if your faith in the risen Lord has touched anyone, perhaps without even knowing it. Who knows that that person has reached others again, and so without end.
Jesus Christ, the risen, the living, is with his church. In a nutritious community. He needs no food of his own, but he is really present in that simple food that He hands out. It is the reference to the Eucharist in which Christ nourishes us with himself and gives us part in his resurrection body. That is the basis of all our lives as people of faith and of our entire mission as Christians. In each Eucharist, as John nudged Peter, may nudge and nod one another and say, “It is the Lord.” Amen

(c) Martin Los pr
1) Gospel of this Mass: Johannes 12:1-14
2) second reading: Revelation 5:11-14
Picture: The miracle of the catch of the 153 fish. By Duccio