Power is On the Water

5 August 2025  Matthew 22-36

“And those in the boat worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’”Matthew 14:33

It is a well-known story, Peter almost walking on the water, looking at the wind more than he looked at Jesus, sank, was rescued. When everyone was safe in the boat, they worshipped Him: “Truly You are the Son of God!” (Matthew 14:33).

Easy to say when you’re safe in the boat. Say that with your feet on the water. That’s where the power is.

When they got back to shore there were people waiting who brought the sick to Jesus. Quite a crowd, in fact. Some had a hard time walking, and couldn’t reach his hands. They begged to get close enough just to touch the hem of his garment, just that close, just the hem, and they would be healed. Their feet were on the water – that’s where the power was, and they were healed.

“Truly You are the Son of God!” Say that with your feet on the water.

The city of Philippi was the chief city of the district of Macedonia. It had fallen into ruin, but was rebuilt by Marc Antony and Octavian during the Roman Civil War (c. 42 B.C.) as a colony for retired soldiers. It was a very pagan place, not even ten Jews lived there. You needed a minimum of ten Jews to form a synagogue, but since they did not have even that, the few pious Jews gathered at a modest “place of prayer” outside of town at a riverside. That’s where St. Paul met them, and preached the gospel to them. There was a disturbance after Paul dispatched an evil spirit from a slave girl, whereupon he and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison. That night there was an earthquake, and all the prison doors came loose from their hinges. The guard thought all the prisoners had escaped, and was about to kill himself – worse than that awaited any Roman guard who let prisoners escape – but Paul called to him, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here” (Acts 16:28). That was enough for the jailer to convert on the spot. The next morning the police came by and told Paul and Silas they could go, but Paul refused. “You beat and imprison Roman citizens without a trial, and then you want to dismiss them in secret? Nothing doing! Tell the mayor and the city council to come and say they’re sorry first” (cf. Acts 16:37).

Paul was way out on the water doing this, but he knew what people who are safe on the boat don’t: Say those things with your feet on the water. That’s where the power is. The mayor and city council came, and very pagan Philippi became more loyal to St. Paul than any other town where he went.

Say those things with your feet on the water. That’s where the power is.

“I believe in One God, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” We say it at every Mass, and it is good to say it at every Mass. It is also safe to say it at every Mass. If renewal is what we are after, we also have to say it in unsafe places. With our feet on the water. Because that’s where the power is.