A: 19th of OrdTime (9 Aug 2020) - THE CONJURING (Mt 14:22-33)

The word “conjuring” becomes popular nowadays with the so-called Conjuring Universe, a series of supernatural horror films, featuring “The Conjuring” and “The Nun,” among many. The basic plot of these movies is that the spirits of the departed continue to haunt the present, having the capacity to hurt, terrorize, and even possess individuals. Paranormal fighters and exorcists are presented as the ones who can end the intimidations of these unfriendly ghosts. The English word “conjuring,” however, denotes instead the opposite meaning of summoning the deceased to appear in the context of magical rites. Thus, while the Conjuring Universe in filmography fear the dead and suppress them from reappearing the earthly realm, the contrary is invoked in English lexicons, informing that they can be encountered in a friendly manner.

Interestingly, the philosopher Jacques Derrida suggests a nuanced meaning of this term. For him, it is more of a brave confrontation of the past in forging a better tomorrow, saying: “If he loves justice at least, the ‘scholar’ of the future, the ‘intellectual’ of tomorrow should learn it and from the ghost. He should learn to live by learning not how to make conversation with the ghost but how to talk with him, with her, how to let them speak or how to give them back speech, even if it is in oneself, in the other, in the other in oneself: they are always there, specters, even if they do not exist, even if they are no longer, even if they are not yet” (cf. Spectres of Marx, 1994). In other words, it is in the haunting experiences of the past that we can begin to take full responsibility of the future through our committed performative actions.

Our gospel today talks about Jesus’ appearance to his disciples in the middle of the sea. But what is unique here is that he did so while walking on the water amidst the strong waves that were hitting hard the disciples’ boat. Upon approaching, he was mistaken by them as a phantom, inciting them to cry out in fear: “It is a ghost!” (Mt 14:26 par. Mk 6:49). However, in a similar narrative in the Gospel of John, this identification of Jesus as a specter is missing: “they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified” (Jn 6:19). Most probably, while they might have thought, too, that the one walking toward them was a ghoul (as seen in the Synoptics), the Johannine disciples learned how to deal with the phenomenon despite their dread. Neatly, they simply stood before the vision with blind trust.

Indeed, fear cannot be removed. It is a normal human emotion when we experience a terrifying situation, a precarious future, or a memory of a painful event. The ghosts of both the bygone and the unknown can endlessly torment our minds, making us powerless in the present. But remaining inside our gloomy hiding only makes the matter worse. We should put into heart that despite the varying reactions of the disciples in the Synoptic and Johannine accounts, Jesus’ response was consistent: “It is I; do not be afraid” (Mt 12:27 par. Mk 6:50; Jn 6:20). Henceforth, Jesus asks us to conquer our fear, and to bravely take full responsibility of today.

A bolder thing to do to speed things up is to conjure these arguably frightening ghosts of our society. Thus, we do not ignore the ghouls of countless lives that were casualties of atrocities, violence, and injustices. We constantly remind ourselves of the innumerable victims of extra-judicial killings, of the martyrdoms of journalists and freedom-fighters, and, recently, of COVID-related deaths due to the government’s negligence. Uttering solely “Lord, save me!” (Mt 14:30) amidst these painful losses do not salvage us from drowning. Rather, our salvation lies in our honest discernment of the agonizing past, anchored on our faith in God and emboldened by our positive commitment to stop the rocky waters from destroying our boat.

- Rex Fortes, CM