Matt 14:22-34 / FAITH
By V. Rev. Fr. David Mahaffey

Where does faith come from? How do we come to have faith? Can we define it or
offer a formula to explain it? If we examine the Gospel today, we can see an example of
faith, how it works and how it doesn’t work.

When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he asked Jesus to prove it was Him
by letting him walk on the water. Jesus answers with one word, “Come.” So Peter
leaves the safety of the boat and begins to walk toward Jesus. So far, so good. The
problem arises when Peter begins to think more about his natural surroundings and less
about Christ. When Peter takes his mind off of Jesus and dwells instead on the stormy
sea around him he starts to sink into the sea. Now he is left with only two choices,
either continue to sink and maybe drown, or he can look to Christ again to be saved
from his predicament.

He now calls out, "Lord, save me!" and Jesus rescues him from the sea and asks
him a question, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" It is obvious that the Lord is
disappointed in Peter. He started out doing well, walking across the water toward
Jesus, but when he took his mind off of that command of the Lord, he sank. Said
another way, he changed his mind about what he believed. He based his decision on
what he knew from the world and not what he gained from the Lord.
We each have a way of faith that is particular to us. We may have been raised in
the Church, we may have been taught by our parents about what to do and when to do
it, but that in itself, does not constitute faith. It is only when we exercise our faith
because it is what we believe that becomes ours in a genuine way. The very Divine
Liturgy which we celebrate each Sunday only has the power to offer to us the precious
body and blood of Christ because we, the faithful, give of that faith in the prayers of the
Liturgy. It is one of the reasons that a priest cannot serve a Liturgy by himself, but he
must have someone there to be the “amen.” Whether we are talking about holy water,
holy oil, or any blessed or sacred object, it is the combined prayers of the faithful that
make them so. The priest may recite the words, but it is the faith of the people that
generate the grace of God to come upon it and make it holy. If it were not so, then there
would be no need to pray, no need to gather as the community of believers, we could all
just do as we think best and hope that the Holy Spirit would come upon those who ask.
God offers us His grace, but it is our faith that makes it operative.

Jesus said, "The just shall live by faith." What me was telling us was that if we do
not have faith, we cannot be just and we cannot have life. St. James’ wonderful epistle
gives us the guiding words to help us understand how important our faith is. It is
something we must use every day, like the muscles of our body, to grow strong in faith.
He said, “the testing of your faith produces patience.” We can tell just how strong our
faith is by how we handle the difficulties that life throws at us. Just like Peter’s
weakness on the sea, we sometimes loose sight of God when we are in a storm, and
when that happens, we sink into despair, we forget about God, we try to fix things
ourselves; and generally when we are totally fallen we cry out like Peter, “Lord, save
me!” But we know that if constantly trust God and have faith in His power to help us. He
never fails us and we have not only stronger faith, but ultimately we have victory through
that faith.

But faith in and of itself is not sufficient for salvation. Consider what else the wise
Apostle James has told us. He said, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says
he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? Thus also faith by itself, if it
does not have works, is dead.” Our faith needs action and that action produces works
that prove the strength of our faith.

We can say, then, that faith comes from within, we each have it in greater or lesser
degrees. We each also have the ability to have that faith grow through our trust in God,
and also by our deeds. No matter how stormy our sea of life, no matter what may come
against us, if we keep our minds and our hearts on Christ, we can achieve victory in
Christ. As St. John says in his first epistle “For whatever is born of God overcomes the
world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith.”

The Mayflower Compact (authored by William Bradford) 1620 |

“Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together…”


John Adams and John Hancock (president of the 2nd Continental Congress):

We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!—April 18, 1775


John Adams:

“The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.” —in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."—October 11, 1798


Samuel Adams:

“ He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all… Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.” [ "American Independence,"—August 1, 1776. Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia


Charles Carroll - signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." —Source: To James McHenry on November 4, 1800

In Benjamin Franklin's 1749 plan of education for public schools in Pennsylvania, he insisted that schools teach "the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern."


Alexander Hamilton:  1st Secretary of Treasury, Founding Father

Hamilton began work with the Rev. James Bayard to form the Christian Constitutional Society to help spread over the world the two things which Hamilton said made America great:

1. Christianity
2. A Constitution formed under Christianity.

“The Christian Constitutional Society, its object is first: The support of the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States.

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man."


Thomas Jefferson:

“The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.”

“Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus

"I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus."


Samuel Johnston: governor of N. Carolina, Senator of N. Carolina

“It is apprehended that Jews, Mahometans (Muslims), pagans, etc., may be elected to high offices under the government of the United States. Those who are Mahometans, or any others who are not professors of the Christian religion, can never be elected to the office of President or other high office, [unless] first the people of America lay aside the Christian religion altogether, it may happen. Should this unfortunately take place, the people will choose such men as think as they do themselves."—[Elliot’s Debates, Vol. IV, pp 198-199, Governor Samuel Johnston, July 30, 1788 at the North Carolina Ratifying Convention]

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison proposed the plan to divide the central government into three branches. He discovered this model of government from the Perfect Governor, as he read Isaiah 33:22; “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us.”


Patrick Henry: "Orator of the Revolution."

"This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”—The Last Will and Testament of Patrick Henry

The Word of Jesus
by Fr. David Mahaffey

Let us see how well you listened to the Gospel today.  How many words does Jesus say in this Gospel?  Does He preach to the people?  Does He teach the Apostles?  Does He even have a dialogue with the ones possessed with the demons?  Of course, the answer is no, He doesn’t.  In fact, He only says one word in this entire Gospel.  It is the demons and then the people of the Gergesenes who speak, other than that, Jesus says only the command to the demons, “Go”.

How often do we feel the need to explain ourselves, to talk about any given subject, to inform or ask about something in a thorough manner?  In fact, we have become the information consumers of the highest order, we have more ways to communicate and more devices to communicate with than in all of previous history.  In one lifespan we have gone from telegrams to text messages, from magazines and newspapers to blogs and websites.  We have found more ways to transfer information than we have time to listen, read or watch.  There is no shortage of opinions when anything newsworthy is made public, either in church or in the world; but immediately someone spreads their views, wanted or not.  We are so unlike the instructions in Proverbs:  “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: [and] a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.”  [Prov. 17:21]

It is also hard to hear what a person says if we are also talking.  We cannot be both a listener and a speaker at the same time.  That is why when Jesus wanted to be sure people understood His parables, He would say, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” [Mat. 13:9]  

In this Gospel, who recognizes Jesus for Who He is?  It is the demons who address Him and say, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?”  [Mat. 8:29]  And who, in this Gospel, does not understand who Jesus is?  It is the Gergesenes who want Jesus to leave.  Even though these possessed men blocked the pathway near the tombs so that they could not even visit the graves of their loved ones, a fact everyone must have known, they lack understanding of how or why Jesus was able to command the demons to leave, so they remain in their ignorance and want to return to their comfort zone.

Notice also the Jesus does not even give them an argument for remaining with them.  He does not offer to do more miracles, or heal anyone, or even give a parable; it simply states that He left.

All this is to say to us the real message of this Gospel, that we need to be observant, listening Christians as much as we need to be reading, singing, and praying Christians.  We live in an age where every single event in the world is brought right into our homes, our cars, and even our phones.  The horrors of war, the plagues of nature, the disasters of oceans are all the push of a button away from us.  Our duty is to be attentive to the words of God more than the words of men.  Not one word has ever been added to the Bible, nor is it allowed to be added; in fact Christ said that heaven and earth will pass away before one “jot or tittle” be changed from the Law (Mat. 5:18).  With one word Jesus changed the condition of two men and an entire country, what will it take Jesus to say to us to change us?  May we hear what God is saying to us, so that we will be able to sing, “We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us.”