Rev Michael Cavanagh +353 (0)858 533 173
a wooden ship on a stormy sea

Collect for Trinity 10

Let your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of your humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 10: 5-15

Matthew 14: 22 – 33

The boat is in a storm, fighting a headwind, going nowhere. Once again, it is Peter’s heart that rules his head, and he is the one who dares to do what Jesus tells him – ‘Come’. Another story in which we see an example of Peter’s personality, and in his humanity recognise part of ourselves. He means well. He trusts. He gets out of the boat and starts walking on the water. But then he looks down, realises what he is doing in faith, but can’t sustain it when that appears to be something that the rules and regulations of the world say is impossible. Fortunately, for the good of the church and the ‘rock’ on which it is to be built, Jesus reaches out a hand and saves him.

All too often, we are in the same situation. We travel through the sea of life with the wind against us. Even though we know we ought to trust and obey, we choose to stay in the deceptive safety of the boat rather than take the risk. To step out would be asking too much of our faith, and deep down, however strong our desire to put our belief into practice, we cannot ignore the feeling that we might sink. But once in a while, once in a very Blue Moon, we might close our earthly eyes and leap over the side. When we do, there is nothing that Jesus asks us that we can’t achieve. Yes, perhaps our faith will fail us halfway through, and Jesus will have to reach out to us to rescue us – and He always will. Sometimes, though, just sometimes, we dismiss the rationality of this physical world, and accept the alternative reality of living in the Kingdom. And instead of walking, we fly.

Previous Posts

Praying together 30th October 2022

Praying together 30th October 2022

Luke 18: 9-14Ephesians 1:11-23 ‘Saint’ Defn. #1: a person acknowledged as holy or virtuous and regarded in Christian faith as being in heaven after death. Well, I’m not dead yet (or at least I wasn’t at the time of writing.) So that’s not me. ‘Saint’ Defn. #2: a very...

read more
Praying Together 16th October 2022

Praying Together 16th October 2022

2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5  Are we there yet? (Title courtesy of Marjorie)Just stop for a moment. Take a look around. How did you get to where you are at this instant in time?  Now have a look into yourself, your heart and mind, and reflect on your journey in faith –...

read more
Praying Together 9th October 2022

Praying Together 9th October 2022

Collect for Trinity 17 Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: Teach us to offer ourselves to your service, that here we may have your peace, and in the world to come may see you face to face;through...

read more
Praying Together 25th September 2022

Praying Together 25th September 2022

Luke 16: 19-31  What will it take to convince you? With thanks to Anselm of Canterbury, and his inspiration Augustine of Hippo, there are two approaches to faith. (Excuse the Latin, but I had five years of it at school and I can’t help showing off sometimes as a...

read more
Praying Together 18th September 2022

Praying Together 18th September 2022

Luke 16: 1-13  To whom do we owe our allegiance?  You cannot serve God and ‘wealth’ Bah. If ever there was a misleading Biblical translation, that’s it. It’s bad enough when the translated phrase reads ‘You cannot serve God and money’. Neither of those words...

read more
Praying Together – 11 September 2022

Praying Together – 11 September 2022

Collect for Trinity 13  Almighty God, who called your Church to bear witness that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: Help us to proclaim the good news of your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to you; through him who was lifted up on the...

read more
Mary’s Story

Mary’s Story

Hello little one. Pleased to meet you. It’s been an eventful few months while I’ve been waiting for you to arrive. Let me tell you all about it.
It started on an ordinary day. I was going about as normal, feeding the chickens, tidying up and that sort of thing.  I wasn’t really concentrating, I was thinking about my wedding to Joseph in a few weeks time.

read more
The Journey to the Cross

The Journey to the Cross

The Lent readings tell a familiar story.  The story of a journey.  A journey to the cross.  
Let’s remind ourselves of that journey. After his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days and forty very cold nights.  The voices of Satan came whispering, tempting, but Jesus refuses to be distracted or tempted.

read more