Nineteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A
Scripture Readings: First Books of Kings 19:9,11-13; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 9:1-5; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 14:22-33
This Sunday the Church offers us Scripture readings that touch on the topic of meeting God in the silence of one’s heart. Though we are all part of a “larger picture,” that is, members of the entire human race, created in God’s image and likeness, and as baptized Christians part of the worldwide Body of Christ on earth, yet we are also individuals, called to a living relationship with Jesus Christ.
Today’s first reading from the First Book of Kings is the famous story of the Old Testament prophet Elijah, who lived some eight hundred years before the birth of Christ, meeting God in the “tiny whispering sound” at Elijah’s solitary mountain retreat. We are told that God was not manifest to Elijah in a strong and heavy wind, nor an earthquake, nor a fire. Instead, God was revealed to Elijah in a practically imperceptible, barely audible, but completely real way.
This experience of an encounter with God, which occurred near the end of Elijah’s life, was meant to purify his understanding of God, helping Elijah realize that God’s communication with humans is most often less spectacular than one might expect, and often of an intimate and personal nature.
This understanding of God’s action in the life of Elijah can be seen as a major step forward in the development of Israel’s understanding of how God acts on behalf of his people. God speaks to the people collectively and as individuals, not normally accompanied by thunder and lightening, but more likely, in a still small voice, a low murmuring sound, a gentle breeze, touching the human heart in a gentle manner.
With this in mind, the prophet Elijah can assure his people of God’s mighty help, even in quiet or barely noticeable ways. Said another way, God’s children must be confident, for God is present and will surely come to their assistance.
The mercy and fidelity of God toward us today is a call for an attitude toward God of resting in peace, for the Lord will give what is good. As Christians, we believe that the greatest gift from God occurred at the Incarnation, the birth in time of our Redeemer, when Christ took flesh and dwelt in out midst, in order to save the human race.
The second Scripture lesson this Sunday, from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, indicates that the whole history of Israel has been directed toward the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is over all, above all, and to be praised for ever.
Saint Paul completely believes in and proclaims the divinity of Jesus, whom he acknowledges as Lord of all, worthy of our complete trust and allegiance. In Christ “we live and move and have our being,” as Saint Paul says in his sermon before the Areopagus in Athens in the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 17, verse 28).
Turning to this Sunday’s Gospel passage, it begins with words about Jesus going up the mountain by himself to pray, and staying there in solitude as evening drew on.
What does this tell us about Jesus? First and foremost that he was a man of prayer, intimately and in touch with his Heavenly Father and ever-attentive to the will of God in every moment of his life.
The quiet time of prayer of Jesus contrasts strongly with happened a little later, when Jesus walked on the water, taking the disciples by surprise and even terrifying them. Was that Jesus’ intent? No, but the event was ultimately cause for the disciples to place greater trust in Jesus, to place unwavering faith in the One who was their Lord and Master, and not to take fright when the waters of doubt invade their lives.
We too in our times can be tossed about by stormy waters and completely unsure how we will get through this or that difficult situation. In such situations, we are called to hear the voice of the Lord, saying to us: “Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Too often, like the first disciples of Jesus, we may experience anxiety about the present or the future, what is going on or what might be going on in our lives, with a lack of trust in God, who constantly proves that divine love is more powerful than any distress or setback we might experience in life.
When Jesus enters the boat in today’s Gospel passage, the wind dies down and the disciples have the presence of mind to recognize their Redeemer among them, ready to accompany them safely to the distant shore.
This Sunday’s Gospel is a strong reminder that the Lord is endowed with power and over all things. God’s presence and word can and will scatter fear and make room for confident faith. In other words, the Lord is the source of our strength and listens to our prayers for help, which might arise from fear, weakness or distress.
Like the Prophet Elijah, we must place our hope in the Lord, await the word of God that will comfort and direct us in our every need. Conscious of the Lord’s presence, we must trust in that small, quiet voice of Jesus calling us by name, coming through the troubling winds and threatening waters that may seem to be drowning us.
“Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid,” the Lord says, adding “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” May we possess the great gift of trusting faith in our God.
Abbot Christian Leisy, OSB