SPEAKER_00: One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is not fear.
SPEAKER_00: It's false confidence.
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what we see in the first reading.
SPEAKER_00: There are two prophets standing before the people.
SPEAKER_00: Ananiah tells them exactly what they want to hear.
SPEAKER_00: This suffering won't last.
SPEAKER_00: Everything will be back to normal in two years.
SPEAKER_00: The yoke of Babylon will be broken.
SPEAKER_00: The people must have loved that message.
SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, Jeremiah tells them something much harder.
SPEAKER_00: He says, in effect, I hope Ananiah is right.
SPEAKER_00: I would love for that to happen.
SPEAKER_00: But God has not said those words.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jeremiah says something remarkable.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord has not sent you, and you have raised false confidence in this people.
SPEAKER_00: False confidence.
SPEAKER_00: Those words struck me.
SPEAKER_00: Because our world is full of false confidence.
SPEAKER_00: We hear things like follow your heart, live your truth, everything will work out.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to change, you'll be fine.
SPEAKER_00: Those messages are comforting, but comforting isn't always true.
SPEAKER_00: A good doctor doesn't tell a patient what he wants to hear or he shouldn't.
SPEAKER_00: He tells him what he needs to hear.
SPEAKER_00: A good parent does the same, and so does God.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the most loving thing God says to us is also the hardest to hear.
SPEAKER_00: And that brings us to Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Peter had confidence, but at first it was confidence in himself.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, if it is you, command me to come.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus simply says, Come.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter actually does the impossible.
SPEAKER_00: He walks on water until he doesn't.
SPEAKER_00: The moment he shifts his eyes from Christ to the storm, he begins to sink.
SPEAKER_00: But notice what Jesus does not say.
SPEAKER_00: He does not say, Well, Peter, I knew you would fail.
SPEAKER_00: No, he doesn't say that.
SPEAKER_00: Or he doesn't even say you embarrassed yourself.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't let Peter drown.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately Jesus reaches out and grabs his hand.
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of confidence God wants us to have.
SPEAKER_00: Not confidence in ourselves, but confidence in him.
SPEAKER_00: The saints understood this.
SPEAKER_00: When you read their lives, you'll notice something surprising.
SPEAKER_00: The saints were actually very aware of their weaknesses.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Therese knew her littleness.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Augustine knew his past.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Peter knew his failures.
SPEAKER_00: Their confidence didn't come from believing they were strong, it came from believing Christ was.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's the lesson for us.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us are facing storms right now.
SPEAKER_00: A marriage that is struggling, a medical diagnosis, financial insecurities, a child drifting away from the faith.
SPEAKER_00: The temptation is to keep staring at the waves.
SPEAKER_00: And the waves are real.
SPEAKER_00: Peter wasn't imagining them, but they were never stronger than Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Neither are yours.
SPEAKER_00: I also love this little detail in today's gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Peter doesn't offer a beautiful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: As he's sinking, he doesn't quote scripture.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't recite a long formula.
SPEAKER_00: He simply cries out, Lord save me.
SPEAKER_00: Three words, Lord save me.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that's the best prayer we can make.
SPEAKER_00: When we're overwhelmed, Lord save me.
SPEAKER_00: When temptation is strong and we're falling into sin, Lord save me.
SPEAKER_00: When grief feels unbearable, Lord save me.
SPEAKER_00: When we don't know what else to say, Lord save me.
SPEAKER_00: And every single time the gospel says the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, not eventually, not after Peter earned it, immediately.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So today ask yourself, where is my confidence?
SPEAKER_00: Is it in my plans and what I can control and my narrative, my abilities, my circumstances, or is it in Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Because storms will come.
SPEAKER_00: But when our eyes remain fixed on Jesus, we'll discover that his hand is always closer than we think.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not false confidence.
SPEAKER_00: That's faith.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.