Matthew 18:15–20

¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”[1]

It is simple to pull some general rules regarding those cases where we might need to rebuke our brother. It is important to understand the context of what is being said here, as Brant Pitre reminds us:

… it’s important to read this passage in light of the whole chapter. The whole chapter is a discourse of Jesus to his disciples. So he is speaking in particular to his students, to his disciples, to the men who have left their former lives behind and have become his followers, his students who travel with him every day to learn from him. He is speaking to the apostles in other words, and that’s clear if you look at the earlier verses in the Gospel of Matthew 18. So in Matthew 18:15, when Jesus says “if your brother sins against you,” he’s not talking about two siblings in a family. He’s talking about a brother within the community of his disciples. He is talking about conflicts between his followers, and in particular between the disciples themselves within the circle of the apostles. So whenever we read those words of his, what he’s describing then is a process of fraternal correction within the Church.[2]

You can see the ecclesial context here when you consider the wording “brother sins against you.” It is very specific about “against you” and not the broader of a brother sinning, but not against you personally. There is a sense where every sin is a sin against God and also a sin against the community. No sin is just in isolation, affecting only the person who missed the mark.

King David illustrates this here:

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment. (Psalm 51:4)[3]

The Catechism broadens the point:

CCC §1868 Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them:

— by participating directly and voluntarily in them;
— by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them;
— by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;
— by protecting evil-doers.[4]

In these three steps there is a lot that is unsaid regarding how you decide to rebuke your brother in the first place. Prayer must be involved first and the questions to consider. Are you in the right, considering the sin you are condemning? When you rebuke someone, it’s important to consider your relationship with them and how likely they are to accept your criticism. But, prudence does not mean saying nothing because it will be uncomfortable to you.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on this passage, writes:

If thy brother shall offend against thee, go, etc.; “With them that hated peace I was peaceable” (Ps. 119, 7). Should you forgive first? No; but first you ought to go and rebuke him: hence, He does not command us to forgive just anyone, but the repentant. Likewise, He says, Rebuke, not ‘scold’ or ‘exasperate’: and show the offense briefly. If he acknowledges his offense, you ought to forgive him; hence, it is said, “Instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness” (Gal. 6, 1).
…
But does a man sin who omits to make this correction? Augustine says: “If you do not correct, you become worse by keeping silence, than he became by sinning.”

But although this is true, because all are bound to correct, someone might say that it is only fitting for prelates who are bound by their office, but it is fitting for others out of charity. Sometimes, the Lord permits the good to be punished with the wicked. Why? It is because they did not correct the wicked. Nevertheless, Augustine says that sometimes we ought to refrain from correcting, “if you fear that they will not be emended by this correction, but will be made worse.” Likewise, if you fear to correct lest it lead to a persecution of the Church, you do not sin if you do not correct. If, however, you abstain from correcting lest you be harmed in temporal goods, lest trouble come upon you, or some such thing, you sin; “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee” (Prov. 9, 8).[5]

The order these principles are laid out in, have much wisdom. John Bergsma writes how often we get this order wrong:

This principle applies to all life within the Church. When offended, however, our tendency is first to go and tell all our friends and anyone else who will listen about how so-and-so did something outrageous to us. This spreads the circle of the offense while making no progress toward reconciliation. It also starts a cycle of gossip and escalating exaggeration.[6]

Some might read the consequence when they will not listen “even to the Church” as rather harsh. One thing to remember is that in Matthew, this paragraph is placed right after the parable of the lost sheep. The context is always to bring somebody who has strayed home. A medicinal recipe to use when all other efforts have failed and to ultimately bring healing.

I like what Dr. Brant Pitre says here in his commentary as he expands on this idea:

So when Jesus says “tell it to the church” here, he is referring to the assembly of believers, and not just to the assembly of believers, but in particular to the assembly of authoritative leaders of those believers, because you can see here what he says is “if he refuses to listen even to the church,” then what’s the penalty? “Let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” What does that mean? Well effectively what it means is you treat him as cut off from the community of disciples.

In fact, as some scholars have pointed out, if you say treat the person like a Gentile or a tax collector, there is both a negative and a positive dimension. The negative dimension is that that person is excommunicated, they are cut off from the Church, they are cut off from the body of believers. The positive dimension though is how do you treat gentiles and tax collectors? How did Jesus and the apostles treat them? Well they evangelized them, they shared the good news with them. So it doesn’t mean that person necessarily is permanently cut off, what it means is that they need to be evangelized again. They need the gospel to be re-presented to them so that they can be called to repentance and then re-integrated into the community. That would be a second implication of his use of the language of gentile and tax collector in this particular context. So there is both excommunication but also evangelization implied by these two expressions that Jesus uses for an impenitent or unrepentant sinner within the Church.[7]

The Gospel passage talks about the future role of the disciples in the Church. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible summarises this:

18:18 whatever you bind … loose: In 16:19, Peter was invested with Christ’s authority as the visible head of the Church. A derivative—but subordinate—authority is given also to the apostles as royal ministers in the kingdom. Jesus’ authority in this context is related to Church discipline; by extension, it is also a sacramental authority to forgive sins (cf. Jn 20:23; CCC 553 ,CCC 1444).[8]

From there, Jesus teaches them more regarding the communal nature of the Church and again how Jesus is there with us always in the Body of Christ.

Peter Kreeft writes about the efficacy of prayer:

There’s no catch to it. Jesus means exactly what he says. Take him at his word. He says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7–8). He promises to answer all our prayers, to satisfy all the desires of our hearts. He doesn’t promise how or when he will answer, because his way and his timing are much better and wiser than ours. He sometimes has to answer our shallow desires with a no to answer our deeper desires with a yes. And he sometimes has to take time to give us good things, because life is more like a farm, which takes time to grow crops, than like a machine, which gives you instant results from pushing a button. But he promises to answer every prayer of every faithful heart. And he infallibly keeps his promises. Our part is to believe and to wait in faith. We say, “Seeing is believing,” but Jesus says, “Believing is seeing.” We say we won’t believe it in our souls until we see it with our eyes, but Jesus says that if we believe it in our souls we will eventually see it with our eyes, because every good desire will be fulfilled eventually, if not in this world then in the next. That’s what he promises: “Everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”[9]

We magnify prayer when we come to pray together in community, from a small to a larger group.

Sources

• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• English Standard Version Catholic Edition
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
• St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute.  ↩
2. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time  ↩
3. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute.  ↩
4. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩
5. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
6. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time  ↩
7. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time  ↩
8. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
9. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A,, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time  ↩

Matthew 16:21–27

Matthew 16:21–27

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.[1]

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St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on Matthew notes:

And why does He go to Jerusalem? He mentions the reason. But in that He says, Jerusalem, the first reason is that God’s Temple was there, the place where sacrifices occurred. Now the sacrifices of the Old Law were figures of that sacrifice which was on the altar of the Cross; for that reason, He willed that in the place where the figure was, the truth would appear; “And He hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness,” etc., (Eph. 5, 2). Another reason is that the prophets suffered in Jerusalem, as it is written below: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee” (23, 37). He wished, therefore, to suffer there to show that their death was a sign of Christ’s Passion. Likewise, ‘Jerusalem’ means ‘vision of peace’; but the Passion itself was making peace; “Making peace as to the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven” (Col. 1, 20). Moreover, He wished to suffer there so that by this way there might be to us a way to the spiritual Jerusalem; “But that Jerusalem which is above is free: which is our mother” (Gal. 4, 26)[2]

In response to the news Jesus gives them, Peter returns to form and engages his mouth before engaging his brain. It is easy to critique Peter here, but we might want to pause how shocking this would have been to the disciples. We have the spoiler alert of history and know how this all plays out. From Peter’s perspective, he had just had his suspicions confirmed Jesus was the Messiah. Had just learned that he was going to play a major role himself in Jesus’ mission. Hearing such news, who of us would have calmly taken this in, perhaps pondering the role of the suffering messiah in Isaiah or the other scriptural clues. The Holy Spirit gave him knowledge about Jesus as the messiah, but he needed to let go of his expectations to understand God’s plans. Peter, as the everyman experiences the same as all of us being stripped down of our want and desires to bring them in conformity with God’s will. “On his own, he cannot see the spiritual necessity of Jesus’ Passion for sinners.”[3]

It now seems almost comical at the thought of Peter “rebuking Jesus.” He tries to prudentially use his role as leader by taking Jesus aside and not rebuking him directly among all the other apostles. Peter might have thought of himself being quite prudent in doing this. I can imagine his shock at hearing, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

SATAN The Hebrew word שָׂטָן (satan) means to oppose, obstruct, or accuse. The Greek term (σατάν, satan) literally means “adversary.” In the New Testament, it refers to a title or a name—(the) Satan. The term שָׂטָן (satan) is rendered as diabolos in the Septuagint.[4]

Dr. Brant Pitre comments further on the language used here:

Well notice what Jesus says there. He doesn’t just rename Peter as Satan, he says “get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me.” The Greek word here for hindrance is skandalon. We get the English word scandal from that, so he is saying you are a scandal to me. Now what is interesting about that is that in the original Greek, the word skandalon literally means “a stumbling stone.” A skandalon would be a stone in the path that you trip over when you are walking. So what Jesus is doing here, in a sense, is punning off of the name he just gave Peter. So when Peter was confessing faith in Jesus’ divine sonship he was the rock, he was the Petra ; but now that he is opposed to the passion and death and resurrection of Jesus, he’s become a skandalon a stumbling stone. So he is still a rock, but he’s taken on a different form here.[5]

I like to reflect on the playfulness of the language that Jesus uses and that he will pun.

Brant Pitre remarks on how Jesus uses opportunities to teach:

Most of us, when we think about the story of Peter and Jesus, we end with “get behind me Satan.” We say “look at Jesus, he kind of rebuked Peter because Peter doesn’t understand the cross.” That is not where the story stops in Matthew’s Gospel, because in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus—once again—uses Peter’s mistake as an opportunity to open up a deeper mystery, to teach them something further. And in this case, it is about the mystery of suffering and discipleship.[6]

In the second paragraph of today’s Gospel reading, teaches on what is sometimes called the “cost of discipleship.” He never glosses over what it means to follow him. He does not soften the blow, but teaches what reality will bear out over and over. More importantly, he directs us to our final end, and the glorious plan he has for us. We are not just passing through our earthly life into eternal nothingness. He uses paradoxes to bring us closer to this mystery and to understand what we should prioritize.

I was thinking about the idea of the “cost of discipleship” in contrast to the “cost of non-discipleship.” From experience, I know that my attempts to maximize pleasure and to reduce suffering have had the opposite effect. Trying to avoid suffering, I almost always increased it in the long term. Avoiding conflict, I became more conflicted. Redemptive suffering is such a hard-sell, but it can also be the heart of love as it can focus us on the suffering of others and willing their good.

CCC 440 Jesus accepted Peter’s profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man. He unveiled the authentic content of his messianic kingship both in the transcendent identity of the Son of Man “who came down from heaven,” and in his redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Hence the true meaning of his kingship is revealed only when he is raised high on the cross. Only after his Resurrection will Peter be able to proclaim Jesus’ messianic kingship to the People of God: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”[7]

Sources

• St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
• Lexham Bible Dictionary – Verbum
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
• English Standard Version Catholic Edition
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute.  ↩
2. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
3. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
4. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Lexham Press. (2016)  ↩
5. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time  ↩
6. ibid  ↩
7. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩

Matthew 16:13–20

¹³  Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴  And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷  And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰  Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

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It is very easy to read this passage and think mainly of all the apologetic angles involved defending the Papacy. Especially as this dovetails exactly with the first reading. So much commentary has been written on this both in defense of the Papacy and against it. The commentaries I read mostly concentrated on this aspect, and for good reason, as this is a very rich vein for this purpose.

From my non-scholarly view, I also see a resurgence in the scholarly work being done on this topic. I think of Erick Ybarra tome, “The Papacy: Revisiting the Debate Between Catholics and Orthodox.” The amazing work Suan Sunna has presented on this topic and its Old Testament foundations. Along with William Albrecht and Father Kappes book “The Complete Guide to the Papacy in the Holy Bible.” This is not an area subsisting on just long fleshed out apologetic answers.

It seems to me here that Jesus is engaging in a mode of teaching, both asking a question and using the location of Caesarea Philippi. A question that does not even demand their opinion, but what other people had said about him. It is often so much easier to repeat other people’s opinion instead of doing the hard-thinking involved in revealing your own. You can be much more speculative and not reveal your preference. We not only want to have the right answer, but the approved answer.

After drawing these opinions out of them, Jesus then asks the very specific, “But who do you say that I am?”

The apostles may have talked about how Jesus didn’t fit their expectations of the Messiah and what this meant. The usual impetuous Peter jumps in with a reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This seems so unlike Peter that he blurts something out and gets it right in one take.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

I wonder what Peter’s reply would have been without this revelation to him? Yet, it truly becomes his answer as he assents to it. He is being praised here by Jesus for not only his reply, but his intellectual assent and being docile to the Holy Spirit. Yet, in a passage that comes after this Gospel passage, Peter reverts to his own understanding when he denies Jesus will suffer and be killed.

I can easily reflect on the number of times in reaction my first thoughts would be a hot take. Instead of being open to God’s revelation, I express less honest and charitable thoughts. It is so audacious to turn and rebuke Jesus for what he reveals as part of his plan. It seems less audacious when I do the same.

I also think of the transformation of Peter, which I think of as PPP¹ and PPP², that is Pre-Pentecost-Peter and Post-Pentecost Peter. There is such a palpable difference, although I am tempted to pun with a papabile difference. While there is a unique charism associated with the Papacy, we are all called to transformation in Christ.

• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Suggested Resources

• The Papacy: Revisiting the Debate Between Catholics and Orthodox – St. Paul Center
• The Complete Guide to the Papacy in the Holy Bible: Kappes, Christiaan, Albrecht, William: 9798367000207: Amazon.com: Books
• Jesus, Peter & the Keys: A Scriptural Handbook on the Papacy: Butler, Scott, Dahlgren, Norman, Hess, David: 9781882972548: Amazon.com: Books
• Intellectual Catholicism – YouTube – Suan Sonna

Matthew 15:21–28

21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

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This event occurs after Jesus and the apostles, by boat, reached Gennesaret on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. They had a run-in with the Pharisees and scribes who had come from Jerusalem to question him. He exposes their hypocrisy. The first line in this passage states, “And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.” This sets up an interesting contrast between the Pharisees and scribes compared to the faith of a Canaanite woman.

Via Brant Pitre’s commentary on Catholic Productions:

She’s coming to Jesus and begging him for mercy, and using the title, the royal title, “Son of David” when she is addressing him. Honoring him, in a sense, as King, as Messiah, as the ruler of the people of Israel—which is a lot more than Jesus got from some of his contemporaries living in the holy land. Many of them rejected him, but this Canaanite woman recognizes him. Also, I might just note here, that the expression “have mercy on me, Lord” — _eleēson me, kyrie_ in the Greek—is where we get _Kyrie Eleison_ from in the Mass.[1]

I wonder about the stories this woman must have heard about Jesus that invoked such faith. She accepted more than that he was a miracle worker. When ignored and then challenged by Jesus, her faith increased and saw beyond the insult and entered into the playful way Jesus was speaking to her.

Peter Kreeft has some excellent nuggets of insight regarding her action and Jesus’ response.

He was deliberately insulting her, implicitly calling her a dog, to test her faith. And she responded by refuting his argument from analogy. She used his own analogy against him. She said, in effect, “I humbly accept your premise: we Gentiles are like dogs and you Jews are God’s chosen children. But that premise proves my conclusion, not yours, for even dogs eat scraps from their master’s table, if their master is a loving master, as you are. Therefore, please, for the love of my daughter, heal her.” Sometimes a teacher deliberately says something refutable and answerable, something that opens a pathway for his student to answer him and refute him, hoping that the student will see it and take that path. And Jesus’ hope is rewarded.[2]

Her growing faith and especially her humility shine through in how she responds to being tested. I especially enjoy this insight from Dr. Peter Kreeft:

Jesus thus, at one stroke, gave everyone involved what they most needed: the woman, her daughter, the demon, his disciples, and the world, which includes all of us who read this Scripture, down through the long corridors of time. The woman needed his miracle to satisfy her love for her daughter, and she also needed her faith to be tested and strengthened. Her daughter needed the exorcism. The demon needed to go home to hell where he belonged. The disciples needed a lesson in broadness and humility versus narrowness and pride. And the world needed to see Jesus’ love and wisdom and power, the three attributes of God that most clearly manifest his divinity.[3]

This dovetails nicely with St. John Chrysostom writes:

This was the cause why Christ was so backward, that He knew what she would say, and would not have her so great excellence hid; whence it follows, _Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee according to thy will. Observe how the woman herself had contributed not a little to her daughter’s healing and therefore Christ said not unto her, ‘Let thy daughter be healed,’ but, _Be it unto thee according to thy will; that you may perceive that she had spoken in sincerity, and that her words were not words of flattery, but of abundant faith. And this word of Christ is like that word which said, _Let there be a firmament_ (Gen. 1:6.) and it was made; so here, _And her daughter was made whole from that hour_. Observe how she obtains what the Apostles could not obtain for her; so great a thing is the earnestness of prayer. He would rather that we should pray for our own offences ourselves, than that others should pray for us.[4]

From the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture:

Much can be learned by reflecting on the words and actions of the Canaanite woman. Among other things, she is a model for effective prayer. First, notice that she comes to the Savior with _faith. She never questions whether Jesus is able to deliver her daughter from the demon. She simply trusts in the divine authority of Jesus, three times calling him “Lord.” Second, she shows _perseverance_ in asking for Jesus’ help. Neither his initial silence nor his attempt to decline the request lessened her tenacity in pursuing his assistance. She persisted until she attained what she sought. Third, the woman displays admirable _humility. One might expect her to take offense at the comparison between non-Jews and house pets. But the reaction of the woman gives no indication that her pride has suffered any injury. Instead of being put off by the comment, she accepts that she has no claim on the God of Israel or his Messiah. The episode thus presents us with dispositions essential to petitionary prayer. If we approach the Lord Jesus as the Canaanite woman did, we too can hope for his favorable response: “Let it be done for you as you wish.”[5]

There is some question as to the level of insult dogs was meant to be. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible notes:

Literally, “little dogs” or “puppies”.

Strongs concordance’s notes the same thing about the Greek involved. _kynárion_ – properly, puppy, a diminutive of 2965 /kýōn(“dog”). While Jesus would not have been using Greek here, the Greek might as a translation point to Jesus’ playfulness here.

An important point that John Bergsma makes:

So, in the case of this Sunday’s Gospel, we need to understand Jesus’s actions as tailored to the faith of this woman. He sees that she has faith—he puts her faith to the test to elicit more faith. Untested faith is no faith at all.[6]

This Gospel passage ends with Jesus replying, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” This is another example of how Jesus replies to faith. Specifically, marveling at the faith of a gentile such as with the Centurion at Capernaum.

Sources

• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• Catena Aurea Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 1 St. Matthew – Verbum
• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time↩︎
2. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time↩︎
3. ibid↩︎
4. S. John Chrysostom, Abp. of Constantinople, A.D. 398. _Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels_↩︎
5. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch↩︎
6. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time↩︎

Matthew 14:22–33

²²  Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³  And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴  but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. ²⁵  And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶  But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. ²⁷  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 

²⁸  And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. ³⁰  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” ³¹  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³²  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³  And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”^[1]

Jesus’s walking on water is mentioned in Matthew, Mark, and in John. In these three cases, time cues point to this happening after the feeding of the 5,000 and the miracle of the loaves and fishes. They also showed it in these three Gospels that Jesus sends the Apostles on their way as he goes to the mountain to pray and is likely to separate himself from those who want to make him king immediately. In the first reading, we also have Elijah go up on a mountain to pray and he also will hear God’s voice in the weather’s turmoil.

Peter Kreeft notes:

Jesus loved company. Even when he was exhausted, he ministered to the crowds that followed him. But he also needed and sought solitude, as he did at the beginning of our story in today’s Gospel, when he went up a mountain to pray in the middle of the night. We need both human company and solitude, and there is something spiritually and psychologically wrong with us if we do not love and seek out both. They enrich each other: if we have no solitude, no inner life, we have nothing precious or powerful to share with others; and if we shun company with others, we can have no healthy company with God, for “whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).^[2]

St. Thomas Aquinas really dives into the mystical aspects relating Jesus going up the mountain to pray and the danger what Apostles faced on the Sea of Galilea, where there were often such storms.

Afterwards, the danger from the time is described, for it was night, and there is greater danger from the sea at night; for that reason, he says: And when it was evening. And His Passion is signified, because in the Passion He ascended alone; “While they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1, 9). But the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed with the waves. By the boat, the Church is signified; and by the sea, the world is signified; “So is this great sea, which stretcheth wide its arms” (Ps. 103, 25). And this Church, when Christ went into it, remained in the sea, and in the world’s dangers. For when some great man attacks the Church, then it is agitated by the waves. “All thy waves thou hast brought in upon me” (Ps. 87, 8). But because Christ prays, it cannot be submerged, even though it toss and be lifted up. “The waters lifted up the ark on high from the earth” (Gen. 7, 17). Likewise, it is agitated by the wind: and this wind is an assault instigated by the devil. “Because a wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house” (Job 1, 19); “The blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating against a wall” (Is. 25, 4).^[3]

St. John Chrysostom:

It should be observed, that when the Lord works a great miracle, He sends the multitudes away, teaching us thereby never to pursue the praise of the multitude, nor to attract them to us. Further, He teaches us that we should not be ever mixed with crowds, nor yet always shunning them; but that both may be done with profit; whence it follows, And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray; shewing us that solitude is good, when we have need to pray to God. For this also He goes into the desert, and there spends the night in prayer, to teach us that for prayer we should seek stillness both in time and place.^[4]

After Jesus prays, he walks on the water. At this point, the disciples are about 4 miles from the shore as the translation of the Gospel of John reports. In Mark we get the tantalizing detail that Jesus had meant to walk past them.

Jimmy Akin speculates concerning this detail:

Mark records that “he meant to pass by them,” perhaps intending to arrive ahead of time and playfully surprise them when they disembarked (a similar element of playfulness is indicated in his appearance on the road to Emmaus; see Luke 24:28–31). His plan changes, though, because “when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw him, and were terrified.” It appears that they do not recognize him the darkness, because he immediately assures them, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.”^[5]

Only in Matthew do we learn of the typical Peter response. A mixture of docility to the Holy Spirit to act and an awkwardness focusing on self and consequences. It really took some chutzpah for him to attempt to walk out towards Jesus. Yet he does not just strike out on his own, he asks Jesus first. None of the other apostles were seemingly tempted by such an impetuous act.

John Bergsma, in his commentary on this passage:

As soon as Peter cries out, Jesus “immediately” (Greek eutheos) reaches out his hand and catches him, suggesting an attentive solicitude for the Apostle’s welfare. The Lord doesn’t sit back and let Peter flounder around in the water awhile to teach him a lesson. Even the rebuke, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” we may understand that Jesus said with gentleness, from one who knows the weakness of our condition.^[6]

How often do we, in trusting God, start to sink in our doubts? Shift the emphasis from what God can do with us to our own will and human possibilities. The plethora of “Fear nots” we get from Jesus are lost as the wind and waves of life make contact.

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen has a section in his book “Life of Christ” on why Peter began to sink, that includes this:

The deliverance was first; then the gentle rebuke; and that probably with a smile on His face and love in His voice. But this was not the only time that poor Peter would doubt the Master Whom he loved so well. He who then asked to walk upon the waters in order to come quickly to the Lord was the one who would later swear that he was ready to go to prison and even to death for Him. Courageous in the boat but timid in the waters, he would later on be bold at the Last Supper, but cowardly the night of the trial. The scene at the lake was a rehearsal for another fall of Peter.

I find it interesting that it is only after Jesus calms the wind that those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” The recent miracle of the Loaves and Fishes had certainly got them thinking more deeply on who Jesus is. His walking on water would add to this. It was the apostles familiarity with scripture which taught them that only God had control over the wind and the waves. Water was associated with death both mystically and in their daily lives as fisherman. Also, “This is the first of three declarations of Jesus’ divine sonship in Matthew (also 16:16 and 27:54).”^[7]

Sources

• English Standard Version Catholic Edition
• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• Jimmy Akin’s Studies on Mark (3 vols.) – Verbum
• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• Catena Aurea Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 1 St. Matthew – Verbum
• Life of Christ
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

1. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute.  ↩
2. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time  ↩
3. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
4. St. John Chrysostom, Abp. of Constantinople, A.D. 398. Thomas Aquinas. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels.  ↩
5. Jimmy Akin. (2014). Mark, A Commentary  ↩
6. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time  ↩
7. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩

In today’s First Reading, this section from Numbers struck me, starting with 13:31.

³¹ Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” ³²  So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

Especially, that they intentionally delivered a bad report. Initially, what I considered was people who talk as if the Catholic faith is too stringent. It is difficult to live the virtues required daily. That this call for perfection is an ideal, but not something to live out. The call to perfection in Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer is just hyperbole and not an actual goal. They deliver a false report since they believe that resisting such temptations is not possible and that they are just too strong to overcome. Taking such advice would also make it difficult for us to enter the Promised Land. Those that present this false report, it seems to me, would see this as acting pastoral according to their lived experience.

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” —G.K. Chesterton, “What’s Wrong with the World”

There is a clear lack of faith in God’s ability to enter our lives and change us, despite how slowly it seems on our timescale. While true, we will often fail in pursuing a life of holiness, the saints show us that this is not unobtainable. We need to be encouraged and not presented with false reports exaggerating the danger.

The second aspect I thought about is just how often I also exaggerate the difficulty and present myself with a false report. Pursuing what seems to be more pleasurable over seeking union with God. All those shortcuts instead of seeking God first. Those disappointments in myself that I think I will overcome. The truth is that I will never overcome them by my own will.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Php 1:6)