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SUNDAY 9 AUGUST 2026: THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.

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Christ Walking on the Water, Fr. Luke Dingman, Dingman Iconography Gallery.

Peter said to him….. “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 Peter, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”      Matthew 28:14-21.

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The first thought which suggested itself to me here was why? Why on earth would Peter want to walk on water for any reason other than, possibly, to be rescued at sea (which he did not need at that time)? And note that the Prince of the Apostles wavered in his belief and instantly began to sink before being rescued by the Lord. It was not Peter’s best moment, of which of course he had several. He did seem to be a bit of a simple soul, open to temptation and very human in his actions. We know so well those times of extreme weakness (denial of knowing Jesus), his braggadocio (Peter sald he will never deny the Lord!), and in today’s gospel scene where his faith falters, which in some ways makes him very human, just like ourselves. And perhaps that is the message. In another part of Matthew’s  gospel when there was a very quiet moment, which might echo today’s first reading, that Peter proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, after Jesus had asked: “But who do you say I am?” It was at such times that Peter came through correctly, despite being grieved much later when Jesus asked him three times if he loved him. We are dealing with a very human man here, one we can identify with quite easily. And this was the man Jesus entrusted all of us to. One of the most familiar anthems sung in St. Peter’s Basilica is “Tu es Petrus” – You are Peter – when the Pope is present, reminding him of the descent from Peter’s day to the present moment. And in addition, recall that Peter was not his original name; that was Simon bar Jonah, Simon son of Jonah. Jesus renamed him Cephas, the Hebrew word for Rock, rendered as Peter in English. But note this: In French, the word for stone, pierre, also means Peter. The same in Italian, Pietro with the double meaning, and again in Spanish, Pedro. But not in English. We do have the name Peter, but with no connection with stone. We do have one weak linguistic connection, “petrification” means turned into stone, but that doesn’t really work, does it? So when Jesus says to him, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, there is no double meaning at all. But in French there is: “Tu es Pierre et sur cette pierre je bâtirai mon êglise”. And in St. Peter’s basilica in Rome, you can read the same in Latin up inside the great dome, again with the double meaning, though here it is literally true: St. Peter’s stands on what is thought to be Peter’s actual tomb, three stories down where there is an actual burial place from Roman times.

TU ES PETRUS ET SUPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM

Tu Es Petrus at Mass with Pope Leo XIV on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul 29 June 2025 HD

So although Peter’s faith in Jesus took a significant number of falls, ultimately he remained true, even to the extent of being crucified for his faith, and by tradition upside down, considering himself unworthy to be killed in the same way as the Lord. I imagine that within the acquaintance of many of us there is at least one hothead, someone who will respond to a challenge or dare with instant action, just as Peter did in today’s gospel. There is something attractive in such a person (possibly with a little regret, such as “if only I could be like that…”). It is someone ready to take a risk, be challenged by new things but determined to conquer them. Exactly what the early church needed, of course. Perhaps you are such a person! In which case, does your temperament respond always in the way God wills it? Someone with such a go-to, hands-on lust for life attitude can do great things for God’s church today!

But then there is today’s first, fascinating, reading. God hidden not in thunderclaps and crashing rocks, but in “a tiny whispering sound…” Perhaps Jesus’ one word invitation to Peter over the waves – “Come” – was in such a subdued way, completely unlike Peter’s almost frenzied response, followed by near disaster. But the Lord was there to save him. As he is there to save all of us too. The second reading today is a mini lesson in Hebrew history. It was to the Jews that God first came; to them he gave the divine law; the covenants; the patriarchs and ultimately, the Christ, the Messiah. But they did not recognize him. And Paul says this extraordinary thing: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people…” In other words he would give up everything to have his own people recognize the Messiah in the person of Jesus. Indeed he spent his whole life after his conversion trying to do that. But in his lifetime he saw little evidence of growth or acceptance, only persecution and death. If only he could have lived a few hundred years more! But note: every day in our own lives there will certainly be a moment when we can speak and act as a child of God, saying something that will build up, something that will encourage, something that will heal. In other words, we can act as Paul would, as he tried to build up God’s world of peace, love and forgiveness. It may be that we can each be the Lord, and reach down and help someone out of crisis, disaster or whatever. That will build up God’s kingdom, be pleasing to the Lord and even encourage us to be even better next time. With, as ever, God’s help. And note from the picture below, the lighthouse is not a light of welcome and warmth, but of warning and potential disaster. “Steer well clear” it is telling the sailer, and with the Lord as a pilot, there is every hope of a safe voyage…..through life itself.

At The Helm, Diana Hahlbohm 2016, FineArtAmerica.

IF YOU THINK THESE THOUGHTS MIGHT BE PLEASING TO ONE OR OTHER OF YOUR FRIENDS, PLEASE FORWARD IT TO THEM. THANK YOU.

Reflections on next Sunday’s Mass Readings will be posted on Wednesday.

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SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2025: THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA IN ROME.

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The Church of St. John Lateran, March 2025, Rome, Italy.

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Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  1 Corinthians 3:16.

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Well, first things first. The full, correct name of the church pictured above is “The Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the World”. So, given that, perhaps there is less amazement at this church being the center of attention for today’s Sunday Mass! It is, in fact, the most important Catholic church in the world, even more so than St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City State. If you look closely at the picture above, you can glimpse the papal chair, or cathedra, behind the altar at the very back. Every cathedral in the world gets its name from the cathedra, or seat of the local bishop, that word coming from the Greek word for a chair, 𝜅𝛼𝜃𝛿𝜌𝛼 (kathdra); so every cathedral in the world will have that special chair, the cathedra, reserved exclusively for the bishop of that place alone. Hence the Bishop of Rome has a cathedra, and you will find it in the Church of St. John Lateran in Rome:

The Cathedra of the Bishop of Rome, Wikipedia, Church of St. John Lateran, Rome, Italy.

And, as you know, the Bishop of Rome is the Pope. And one little note: “Lateran” is the name of the land on which the church was built, once belonging to the Laterani, a Roman family whose palace once stood there. That has also given its name to several treaties and councils. The Lateran Treaty, for example, was the founding document of the Vatican City State, creating the smallest independent country in the world in 1929. Additionally, there are certain Catholic churches in Italy which are “extraterritorial”, meaning they are exempt from Italian taxes and other restraints. St. John Lateran is one of those sites. And note that the church’s title of “Most Holy Savior” allows this day to be considered a feast of the Lord, hence taking precedence over the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

So what is this all about? All very interesting (perhaps) but why is this considered so important that we will be thinking and remembering a church today, even if it is beautiful and uplifting? But if you are intrigued by a building which stands on the ground of the first legal Christian church in the western world on land donated by the Roman Emperor Constantine shortly after his victory in AD 312 at the Milvian Bridge, click here. Meanwhile, let us ponder on the symbolism and significance that St. John Lateran should have for us today. Note that the term “Archbasilica” is used only for this church, indicating its importance and uniqueness. It is also the “Mother” church as it was the first legal, openly recognized Christian church in the western world, consecrated by Pope Sylvester I in AD 324, and all Catholic churches were born of this first “mother”. 

The first idea which occurs about this church and the world is the link it represents between all Catholic churches in the world and the essential bond they all have in recognizing the pope as the head of the church in his capacity as Bishop of Rome. The pope claims to be the successor of St. Peter whom Christ himself called the “rock” on which he was to build his church (Matthew 16:18). So, in a sense, this church is the first western legal “rock” which spread throughout the world down to today, when on this day we acknowledge that it all began, once it was open to the world, with St. John Lateran. And note there are many moments in Scripture which equate human experience with the surroundings in which we live.  For example, Jesus is called the “corner stone”, the essential element in a building upon which everything rests, especially in an arch. Or we ourselves are described as the “living stones”. Or Christ and the apostles as the “foundation” of the church, and so on. And remember that we hardly ever see foundations; they are usually buried from sight, but woe betide the building that does not have a solid foundation, as seen in Matthew 7:24-27. And the history of the church of St. John Lateran certainly has had its major ups and downs, including fires in 1309 and 1361, an earthquake in 897 which nearly destroyed it, the neglect it suffered during the  period of the Avignon exile 1309-1377, and in the the notorious Sack of Rome in 1527 by the troops of the Catholic Emperor Charles V (not to mention the earlier two sackings by Vandals in the 5th century). And in July 1993 it even suffered a Mafia bombing which damaged part of the church. Yes, this old church has shared in good times and bad, just as we have, both through the centuries and the parallels in our own lives. Yet it has survived and still carries out its obligations as our church’s foundational building, the mother church of the Catholic world. And so do we, through good times and bad, confident that the Lord stands beside us, as he has done with his Church, symbolized above all by the first church of the Catholic world, St. John Lateran.

Click here to see Pope Leo XIV, Bishop of Rome, take possession of his diocese in May 2025. 

Installation of Pope Leo XIV, Bishop of Rome, May 25, 2025.

IF YOU THINK SOMEONE YOU KNOW WOULD RESPOND WELL TO THIS REFLECTION, PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO THEM. 

THANK YOU.

Reflections on next Sunday’s Mass Readings will be posted on Wednesday.

Please send your reactions to: RogerJohn@aol.com 

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