Posted by The WORD in other words (2023) by Fr Narciso Cellan SVD – University of San Carlos, Cebu City
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – A
“I don’t know nothing about it,” a student once answered in class. The teacher then took the opportunity to explain to the class the use of double negatives. She clarified that “in the English language, a double negative makes the statement positive, so your assertion that you ‘don’t know nothing about it’ is actually an admission that you do know something about it.” “Of course,” she further said, “not all languages operate according to the same grammatical rules, but there is not a single language anywhere in the world in which a double positive makes a negative.” Immediately a voice from the back of the classroom remarked, “Yeah, right!”
Jesus walked on water and then commanded the storm to stop. Yeah, right! First, he walked on water. Awesome! Then, the storm obeyed him to stop. Double awesomeness! However, did it really happen? Was Mother Nature not playing tricks on the disciples? This is one good story too easy to be passed for real, beating the logic of anyone who expects something more down-to-earth. Can something like the one narrated in today’s gospel really take place?
Without rushing to a convenient retort of ‘seeing things through the eyes of faith,’ we can first try to look at the other side, the so-called double negative experiences of the disciples. They were tossed about by the waves and toyed by strong winds. They were seasoned fishermen, no novices to the rough life on the high seas. Still the storm unnerved them. But what really pushed them to the edge was seeing a ‘ghost,’ or so they thought. It was one heck of a scare after another. If there was ‘double awesomeness’ on the part of the Lord, his disciples had ‘double fright.’
We are all afraid of something. We all possess a ‘fear factor’ that can put our hearts into our mouths. We all have ‘ghosts’ and ‘storms’ in life that are too frightening to face. At times, we turn delusional with fear; at other times, we are reasonable but still fearful. Some fears are deep-seated, as deep as the water the Lord walked on; other fears are merely imagined, the way the disciples mistook Jesus for a ghost. Regardless, when we live in fear, life itself could take a backseat.
There is no telling when we will meet a ‘ghostly episode’ in life that would scare us stiff. There is no knowing when we shall meet a ‘storm’ that will shake the foundation of our faith. Thus, it is important to constantly remind ourselves that there is no equal to the One who walks on water in the midst of a storm and says, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
This should be our prayer to God’s awesomeness: “Lord, save me!” First, we profess our faith by calling him “Lord,” then we admit our vulnerability and helplessness by pleading, “Save me.” This consequently doubles our prayer, for genuine prayer recognizes that God is stronger and greater than our fears.
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