August 5, 2025 // Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 14:22-36

Reflect on the Word //

It was five years ago during that unsuspecting daily Mass that my life changed. When the pandemic restrictions were lifted in my state, I realized that while others still couldn’t attend Mass, I could go for them. And so I have, every day, for the last five years. 

As a result, I’ve experienced my own Copernican revolution. Just as the astronomer discovered that the sun, and not the Earth, is  at the center of our solar system, so too I am learning that I am not at the center, but God is. Receiving Him every day in Holy Communion radically reorients me to this reality when I am tempted to put myself at the center. 

The disciples experienced this truth in today’s Gospel. Upon first glance, it’s easy to put the disciples at the center of the drama, empathizing with their anxiety over the raging storm. But look again: Jesus is the protagonist of this story. 

It is He Who “made the disciples get into the boat,” Who “dismissed the crowds,” Who “went up the mountain to pray” (Matthew 14:22, 23). He was drawn to the disciples in their distress and “came toward them, walking on the sea” (Matthew 14:25). He reassured them in their panic saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid,” and He called Peter out of the boat to walk with Him on the surface of the sea (Matthew 14:27-28).

When Peter focused on Jesus, he could do the impossible, but when he focused on the waves he began to sink. 

So too for us. When we focus on the Son, our whole lives come into alignment. Our priorities, desires, relationships, thoughts, and feelings come into right order. But as long as we remain at the center, we will sink into the waves of the world. 

Every day we must undergo this revolution, this conversion. We must return to His gaze and remember that He is the center of it all. We must fix our eyes on the Son of God Who is above our problems and pain and the passing things of this world so that, with Him, we too can do the impossible.

Relate to the Lord // Go to daily Mass this week. Let the Son center you.