Trust is an essential element in the formation of faith. This section of St Matthew’s Gospel is about the Kingdom of God being seen in the Church when human needs are responded to with the life of God. Jesus is forming the faith of the disciples and helping them to understand that they can do great and unexpected things if they allow the grace of God to work in them.

For that to happen the disciples must have faith in Christ. They must learn to sense the presence of God within themselves just as Elijah learnt to recognise the presence of God in the gentle breeze in the first reading today. Jesus and Elijah remain in communion with God through moments of solitary prayer.

St Matthew uses the story of Jesus approaching the disciples across the water to illustrate the confidence and trust the disciple needs to have in Christ. The story also shows how fear can erode faith and shake confidence.

Sometimes we, too, feel like we are sinking beneath the waves. For the people in Matthew’s community this story was a call to faith, trust, courage and boldness in the midst of the hostile forces of the world. Peter’s actions in the story are a mixture of impulsive love and faith weakened by doubt. Peter and the others see clearly for the first time exactly who Jesus is.