As a former catcher, I can say that there are few relationships that rely more heavily on trust than the one between battery-mates on the baseball diamond. Maybe I’m biased in this regard, but I am of the opinion that the pitcher should listen to his catcher ninety-nine percent of the time. I am a non-confrontational person by nature, but there have been at least a few times when I had to walk out to the mound and explain to the pitcher that I was not going to allow him to throw his stupid curveball that he couldn’t locate all day when there is an important run waiting on third base. In different circumstances, maybe, but not when it counts.

Trust in difficult circumstances plays into virtually every relationship in our lives, but the Gospel today illuminates a particular instance of that between Peter and Our Lord. Peter is trusting (or perhaps foolhardy) enough to step out of the safety of his boat in a storm and follow where Jesus is calling him. It isn’t until he starts thinking about the hazards around him that his courage fails. If we were to place ourselves in the apostles’ shoes, we would probably be all over the board. Some can confidently say that they would follow Our Lord into the storm. Others can admit that they might try, but would similarly
fall short like Peter. Many know themselves well enough to say that they wouldn’t step out of the boat. An honest few might say that they would probably still be on the relative safety of the shore.

Time and again throughout the scriptures and in apparitions, Jesus asks us to trust in Him. It is one of the primary lessons of the Divine Mercy devotion. That’s one thing in theory, but it can be another altogether when push comes to shove. Perhaps you trust Jesus when it comes to the things that are unimportant in your life. You can leave some of the small decisions in His hands because you’re okay with any number of outcomes. But Jesus calls us to grow in our trust for Him across the board. Decisions ranging from discerning one’s vocation to being open to new life in one’s marriage to wrestling with and accepting a difficult teaching of the Church are all meant to be placed in His hands and given over to Him. Paradoxically, we can never really keep the things we hold back from Jesus, because He wants to transform them and give them to us anew. That which we would keep we must first learn to let go. Our will, our freedom, our very selves.
 
We must practice this abandonment until we can step out of the boat with Peter and cast everything upon Our Lord. It takes time, but it is a labor of love that can grow little by little throughout our lives. I leave you with this quote from the beautiful spiritual work Abandonment to Divine Providence, and pray that we as a parish may respond more and more each day to Jesus’ call to trust in Him and follow where He goes.
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McC
 
“My God, I desire with all my heart to do Your holy will, I submit in all things and absolutely to Your good pleasure for time and eternity;
and I wish to do this, Oh my God, for two reasons; first: because You are my Sovereign Lord and it is but just that Your will should be accomplished; secondly: because I am convinced by faith, and by experience that Your will is in all things as good and beneficent as it is just and adorable, while my own desires are always blind and corrupt; blind, because I know not what I ought to desire or to avoid; corrupt, because I nearly always long for what would do me harm. Therefore, from henceforth, I renounce my own will to follow Yours in all things; dispose of me, Oh my God, according to Your good will
and pleasure.”