Rev. John Kha Tran

LORD! SAVE ME

The contractor who had remodeled and repaired the ramshackle Revival Church was having a hard time collecting his money. Determined to arouse the congregation to its fiscal responsibilities, he bought a devil’s suit, complete with horns, tail, and a big pitchfork.

During a Sunday service, when the congregation had reached an emotional peak of ‘getting religion,’ he strode in the open door and up the aisle. Pandemonium broke loose, the crowd pushed and shoved for the door. Some even crawled out the open windows.

Everybody got out except one old lady. She stumbled over a bench and fell at the feet of the devil. Looking up at the waving pitchfork, she shouted, “Wait a minute, Mr. Devil. I’ve been doing the things you don’t like, like singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school, baking pies and cakes for our food sales. But, Mr. Devil, really I’ve been on your side all the time.” (Msgr. Arthur Tonne, “Yokes Priests Can Tell, Vol. 2, #124).

Take Courage

In today’s gospel reading, the disciples are sailing into a big storm, battling against the wind and the waves all night long. They are struggling for their lives. They forget that they are disciples of Jesus. They forget that Jesus has chosen them to follow him. They forget that it is Jesus himself who has sent them on this journey. They forget that Jesus is still “with them.” They forget about Jesus’ presence in their lives; so when he walks over the water towards them, they are terrified and shriek, “It is a ghost!” But Jesus reassures them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” It takes courage to believe in Jesus. It takes courage to profess our faith in Jesus. It takes courage to continue to walk toward Jesus.

With little faith, Peter asks, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus tells Peter to come. But because of the strong wind he becomes frightened and begins to sink. He keeps sinking deeper into the water; so he cries out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus reaches out his hand to pull Peter up and to stop the wind and to calm the turbulent water. Everything is back to normal. They are amaze to confess their faith in Jesus, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

Confession of Faith

This is the confession that every one of us wants to have. Truly Jesus is the Son of God! The new translation of the Nicene Creed has changed from “We believe” to “I believe.” It is important for us to pay attention to this change. This requires everyone to make a personal confession of faith in God and in Jesus. We receive our faith from the Church, but we come together first and foremost as individual believers. These individual believers make a community of believers. We profess that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is our Savior. He is there and ready to give us a hand if we cry out to him for help. It is important that we pray. It is important that we cry out to him for help. He is awaiting us to call on him. Facing trials, threats and turbulent storm in life as individuals or as a nation, it is important that we remember to cry out to Jesus for assistance. Some people instead of crying out for help, they doubt and question God’s love or His existence, “Is there really a God? “Why did he let this happen to me?”

As people of faith, when the wind blows and the waves bash, we believe that God is there for us. Like Peter, our prayer is, “Lord save me!” We pray like the Psalmist, “Though I walk through the valley and the shadow of death, I fear no evil. For you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23).

Jesus is always “there” for his disciples from the moment he calls them until the moment he dies on the cross. He is there for them after the resurrection and he is still there for us in the Eucharist. He promises to be there with the disciples and with us till the end of the world. He has sent the Holy Spirit to be our companion. “Paraclete” means a “companion alongside,” one who stands beside as a guardian and a guide. The Paraclete, the resurrected spirit of Christ on earth, promises to be always present, always alongside, always “in the boat” with us.

Footprints

A man dreamed he died and went to heaven and there was met by Jesus. The man had lived a long Christian life, but it had not been without some times of great trial and tribulation as well as those times of joy and victory. As he met with Christ, the man was given a panoramic review of his life -- all the highlights and low periods. In the review of his life one of the things that continued throughout were his footsteps along the sands of time.

The man noticed that at those times in his life when it had really been rough there was only one set of footprints -- not two as in the good times. He turned to the Lord and said, “Lord, I don’t understand. You promised to be with me always. But when I look back now, I see that in those really rough times there was only one set of footprints. Lord, why did you leave me then?”

The Lord looked at him, smiled, and said, “Leave you? I didn’t leave you at all. Dear friend, if you look at the footprints carefully, you’ll notice they are a little deeper than the others. Those were the times I was carrying you” (Paul J. Wharton. Stories and Parables for Preachers and Teachers, 70-71).

”Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).