Gospel-Homily for Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2026)

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If I ever meet St. Peter after I die, I want to ask him a question. “What was it like to walk on water? Is it like walking on jello, or do you feel like a buoy marker? What is it like to walk on water during a storm with waves? What do you do? Do you jump over the waves, do you just crash into the waves, and what if one of the waves throws you off balance and you fall? Can you push yourself off the water and stand up again? I wouldn’t know because I never walked on water, and neither did Peter. Peter had to cry out, “Lord, save me.” There it is. The greatest prayer you will ever say. You may be a little embarrassed when you say it like Peter, or you may even get yelled at for having little faith as Peter, but they will be the greatest words that will leave your lips because you will have special knowledge. You will know something that no one else could know. You will be the smartest person in the room.

Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” The Disciples all answered Him, “John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets. There are a lot of opinions out there about Jesus. Then he asked them “Who do you say that I am?” You would think that all the disciples would have instantly raised their hands in unison with the answer. “Well, of course, we know who you are. We were there when the paralyzed man walked away carrying his cot. We were there when you fed 5000 with a few loaves of bread; we saw how you gave sight to the blind man. You cast out a legion of demons. Of course we all know who you are. They didn’t. It was only Peter. What made Peter different from the others? Why did Peter know more about Jesus than the others? Peter was the only one who risked getting out of the boat. Peter was the only one who experienced what it was like to be saved.

The greatest thing that could ever happen to us is to be in a situation where we need to be saved by God. The greatest thing we could ever do is say those words. Lord, save me. Because when we are saved by God, we gain special knowledge.