Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts

Transcript

Speaker 1: Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.

Speaker 2: Welcome back to Scripture for your inner outcasts. Today is August 3rd, 2026. Monday of the 18th week in Ordinary Time. Today's guest presenter is doctor Jerry Crete, one of our co-founders of Souls and Hearts, and a clinical psychologist at Transfiguration Counseling based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Speaker 1: Hey there. It's so good to be with you today. Wherever you're listening from, whether you're in your car or on your way to work or maybe sipping your coffee. I'm glad to be with you today. I'm sitting with this reading about Jesus and Peter especially. And we did look at this when it showed up as a Sunday reading earlier this year. But I want to just slow down for a moment and just kind of. Notice that Jesus sent his disciples out without him. You know, they get into the boat and they go ahead while he goes up to the mountain alone to pray. And there's something about that detail that kind of strikes me this morning. First of all, even Jesus needed solitude with the father. Even Jesus modeled retreating to be, you know, with God. Meanwhile, the disciples are out there alone, and evening comes, and then there's this wind, and the waves start to toss the boat. I just want to sit with that image for a second. There are a few miles offshore. Jesus is not around. They're fighting against the wind and it won't let up. And does that feel familiar to any part of you? Maybe there's a part that's exhausted from rowing. You know, maybe this is related to a marriage that isn't working well or a family situation that you're struggling with or diagnosis that you're struggling to improve.

Speaker 1: Maybe an anxiety around work. Something approaches them walking on the very water that's been terrifying them. And what do they do? They scream, it's a ghost. You know, I love this. It's so much. It's so deeply human. When something unfamiliar approaches our exiled parts. Even if that something is actually Jesus Christ actually healing. Actually, the very thing we've been praying for, our system doesn't know how, you know, always how to recognize it as safe. Sometimes, when a new possibility for peace shows up in our lives, there's a part of us that panics because it's so unfamiliar and unfamiliar has so often meant dangerous. But let's just listen for a moment here. What does Jesus do? Well, he's not offended and he doesn't withdraw. He immediately says, take courage. It is I do not be afraid. He names himself before he does anything else. He offers a presence and identity before he demands that they just calm down. This is what self energy sounds like when it approaches a frightened part. It's not a stop panicking, but it's a hey, it's me. You're safe. I'm here.

Speaker 2: Doctor Gerry is the author of a book called litanies of the heart Relieving Post-Traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts. For a link to purchase this book and also for more content from Doctor Gerry, check out the description of today's show.

Speaker 1: We'll close by reaching out to our patrons, Mary, our mother, and tire of knots. Pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. And Saint John the Baptist pray for us.