Sermon – Take Courage, It Is I; Do Not Be Afraid! (Matthew 14:22–33) – 9 August 2026

In today's Bible, we read a very important passage from the Book of Matthew, in which Jesus shows how God's presence manifests itself in our lives.

In the first reading of the Book of Kings, Elijah is praying on Mount Horeb.

God wanted to reveal himself to Elijah, so he asked him to climb the mountain and pray.

Often, to find peace and a conducive environment for prayer, we too must step away from our daily activities and find God in silence .

Before God reveals himself, a strong wind, a hardship comes.

A wind, an earthquake, and a fire came, but God was not in them.

God does not reveal Himself through anger, hatred, noise, or insults.

So how does God reveal himself?

We read in the Book of Kings:

After the fire, there was a calm, gentle breeze. When Elias heard it, he covered his face with his robe and went outside, standing at the mouth of the cave.

The presence of God calms the storm. We see this in the message of the Bible today as well.

Jesus goes to the mountain to pray and tells his disciples to cross to the other side of the sea.

Jesus was praying and he knew what was going to happen. He wanted to test the faith of his apostles.

A strong wind blew and the sea became turbulent. When the apostles saw Jesus walking on the water, they were terrified, for they did not recognize him.

It was night, the sea was rough, and the apostles were afraid. It was as if God was not there and not with them.

The same thing happens in our lives. We often encounter problems, everything seems dark, and we feel like there's no way out of our problems.

A strong wind is blowing, and it feels like we can't bear it. It's as if God isn't with us.

So what happens then? Often, to further test our faith, God asks us to take an even greater step in our belief. He asks us to walk on water.

Beyond the night, the wind, and the stormy sea, God asks us to do something that seems impossible to humans.

In other words, He wants us to demonstrate an even greater act of faith.

This shows that God never abandons us. It is we who abandon God, with our doubts and sins.

And our lack of faith causes us to begin to sink, as happened to Peter in the Bible today.

So what does Jesus say to Peter?

O man of weak faith, why did you doubt?

If we remain faithful to Him, God will never abandon us to destruction.

Jesus's message to us today is to have true and unwavering faith, even in the midst of a storm, even if we have to walk on water.

Jesus can and does perform many miracles in our lives. The problem is, we focus so much on the difficulties that we fail to see enough of what God is giving us.

Today Jesus says to each of us:

Be brave! It's me, don't be afraid!

Amidst storms and turbulent seas, He tells us that He is with us and that we should not be afraid .

When Jesus boards the boat, the sea calms, and it becomes clear that He is also the true God. As in the first reading, God reveals Himself to Elijah as a gentle breeze.

The presence of God brings peace to our lives, even when we are facing serious problems.

Because even when we face difficulties and have to endure suffering, we always have faith that God wants what is best for us.

Suffering accepted with faith always draws us closer to Jesus.

And Jesus is the only one who can lighten all our suffering and the burden we carry on our shoulders. He is the Prince of Peace .

Today, let us ask the Virgin Mary for grace so that we may grow in our faith and find courage even in the face of adversity.