The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary time Year A.  The readings on which this homily are based can be found at this link

On the 8^th grade, basketball team, I was making about 20% of my free throws. In one game, I missed all 13 free throws. That was the last straw for my coach. He made me shoot 100 free throws or 10 made ones in a row after every practice. I almost always shot the hundred.  But I did get a lot better, making about 65%.  The average NBA player makes about 70%. However, there are a few elite who do much better.

Today’s Gospel occurs on the Sea of Galilee right after Jesus feeds the 5000. The Apostles are in a small boat. It is “the fourth watch of the night.” - around 3 AM. On the Sea of Galilee, winds come down from the mountains in the east and cause terrible and sudden storms, with waves over 10 feet high. Imagine what the water of Lake Pontchartrain looks like with huge white caps and this is our scene.

Peter sees Jesus walking out on the water but like the others is not sure. Maybe it is some sort of Spirit. Good ole impulsive Peter – Hey Lord if it’s you command me to come.  Peter leaps out of the boat and starts walking to the Lord.  Everything seems fine but then Peter gets distracted.  I imagine he started looking around, noticing the winds and the waves, and was started thinking something like “What in this world am I doing!?”  He took his eye of Jesus.  His trust in Jesus faltered momentarily and he got in trouble.

Jesus tells Peter “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  But Peter certainly had faith.  He had participated in feeding the multitude, the day before he had seen Jesus cure many sick people. And he not only expressed his faith in Jesus by challenging him to let him walk on the water, but then he leaps out of the relative safety of the boat to walk on the rolling waves! Yes, he had faith. More than I would likely have in that situation.  I would have likely said something more like “Lord if it’s you come join me in the boat”  Peter’s trust in Jesus falters momentarily and he forgets that Jesus is the one who is in control, just for a split second.  Even Peter’s reaction when he started sinking was an expression of faith Lord save me!   Jesus’ mild rebuke of Peter could be Jesus equating a small lapse in faith like Peter had with “little faith”.

As Christians, we may be doing fine in our walk of faith.  But then, we get distracted. It is not basketball fans with noisemakers and white noodles.  We get distracted with the storms that are going on around us, and we begin to sink.  And there are many storms – family illnesses, loss of income, COVID, elections, you name it.  Sometimes doesn’t it seem that we go from storm to storm to storm in our lives. Somewhere in this very church there are people facing great storms. Maybe it is you, maybe the person sitting near you.  Keep your eyes up and focused on Jesus. Because when you look down, all you may see is the hardship. And you sink

Sometimes it is not the storms that distract us.  It is just what we consider the “normal” things in everyday life.  We allow our time to get filled with work, obligations to family and friends, our children’s activities, social media, following the Saints or some other sports teams, or other hobbies. We become so distracted by all these things that we only see Jesus in a passing glance.  Maybe you are one of the fortunate ones. You have dream job, a lovely house, your family is great, you are in great health with plenty of money saved for retirement and a good pension.  All is so good that  we take our eyes off of Jesus.  We feel like we are in control, on top of the world. In reality, none of us are in control. Control is an illusion.  God is in control. Life circumstances can change in an instant.

Today’s Gospel tells us that when the storm comes up and things seem their darkest that Jesus is close. We just need to keep our eyes on him. When the Apostles invited Jesus into their boat, the storms subsided, and the winds calmed down. So, it also is with us.  When we invite Jesus into our lives our storms will calm down.  Not that bad or unpleasant things will not happen to us – I assure you that they will. Bad things happen to good people all the time. But with our eyes focused on Christ, we can have, as St Paul wrote to the Philippians, the peace that surpasses all understanding – regardless of the storms going on around us.

What is your homework?

Just like Steve Nash practiced his free throw shooting every day, we must daily practice keeping our focus on Jesus so that we can perfect it. It does not happen without effort.  Your homework this week is to look up, keep your eyes on Jesus. Here are some simple suggestions

First, take a serious look at your problems and bring them to Jesus in prayer. See in whatever problems that you may have, an opportunity to keep your focus on Jesus, to turn over all to him, to acknowledge that He is in control.

 Start practicing frequent and regular prayer. How about for this week setting your alarm on the hour for 8 hours each day and say this simple prayer “My Jesus I trust in you". Practice, practice, practice

If there are things in your life – activities, television shows, hobbies, friendships -whatever they might be – that are distracting you from your relationship with Jesus, it is time for you to change them or rid yourself of them.  We will not make our life’s goal, everlasting life with Jesus, if we allow distractions to keep us away from him in this life.

On final thing as we prepare to approach Jesus in the Eucharist, an old custom that seems to have faded away – every time you pass a Catholic Church, make the sign of the cross acknowledging your belief in the real presence and giving homage to Jesus just like the apostles did when Jesus entered the boat.

Practice. Keep focused. Practice some more.  It applies to free throw shooting. And it applies to your relationship with Jesus.