This Week's Bulletin Sermon

The Bark of Peter
January 29, 2023

The Gospel today is once again from the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter eight, after our Lord came down from the mountain where He taught the beatitudes and other Divine teachings. Today we see our Lord in the bark of Peter being tossed by the waves and the storm. Our Lord is there, but He is sleeping.

St. John Chrysostom says: “This bark is the Catholic Church. The sea denotes the world, the winds and tempests show the attempts of the wicked spirits to overturn the Church. The Lord seems to sleep, when He permits His Church to suffer persecution and other trials, which He permits, that He may prove her faith, and reward her virtue and merits.”

We must remember this in our day, when the Church seems to be attacked from without and from within. Our Lord promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world. So He is with us in these modern trials also. The apostles remained in the bark and implored our Lord to save them. If they had abandoned ship and jumped overboard, they would have perished. 

When things seems difficult, we have the opportunity to prove our love and faithfulness and to rise above the storm and tempest. We cannot abandon the Church, but we must remain in the bark of Peter and implore our Lord to save us.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Charles Van Vliet, FSSP
Pastor, Regina Caeli Parish