Sunday, August 13, 2017

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time



In the first reading, Elijah is running for his life.  The king and his evil queen want him dead, which is why the prophet is hiding out in a cave.  In the gospel, the apostles find themselves in the dark night on the sea in the middle of a storm fearing for their lives.  And then, to make things worse, what appears to be a ghost is coming toward them.

We have all had desperate times when we think it can’t get any worse.  Life can be do bad that, in a way, we think to die would be a relief.  The temptation when we are so low and scared is to think that God has abandoned us or, even worse, caused the situation to punish us.  When fear takes over, our minds run wild with thoughts that make us feel distant from God.

What Elijah and the apostles discovered is that God was very much with them, although in ways they would not have expected.  The Lord God is all-powerful and so Elijah, knowing that God approaches, expects him to come in a mighty way, either with the powerful winds or the earthquake.  Instead God’s presence is made known to the prophet in a tiny whispering sound, or as other translations put it, a still small voice. 

The apostles come to realize that Jesus is with them even in the midst of the storm.  It is not a ghost they see, but Jesus, walking on water.  When they needed him, he came to them.  So too, we can trust that the Lord will be with us, even in the most frightening and threatening times of our lives.

Peter wants to know for certain that it is Jesus and so asks that the Lord command that he come to him on the water.  And Jesus does exactly that, and at the word of the Lord, Peter does indeed step out of the boat and walk on the water toward Jesus.  It’s an amazing moment and the others in the boat must have marveled at what they saw. 

We know that Peter will in a few moments begin to sink and need to be rescued by Jesus.  But by leaving the boat and walking on water, Peter shows his brothers and us what can be done with a little faith and obedience to Jesus.  The man walks on water! 

When Peter begins to sink, Jesus takes the occasion to admonish him and call him to greater faith.  The storm dies and the disciples pay Jesus homage acknowledging that he is the Son of God.  All that had happened in a few short moments would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

These Scriptures teach us that when life threatens to overwhelm us, God is there.  But we need to be open to the ways that the Lord will come to us.  It is often not the way we would expect or even the way we would want.  But God will be there.

And when God is present and we have even the smallest amount of faith, God can do great things for us and within us.  Faith, like so many other things, grows as we use it.  Consider Peter.  He went from being an impetuous fisherman who wavered between bravery and fear to become a strong leader of the first Christians who followed Christ being crucified himself.  His faith grew tremendously over the years.  His stepping out of the boat on the stormy sea was but the first time he trusted Jesus and obeyed the Lord’s word.  With God’s help Peter became stronger and he always persevered, trusting God was with him no matter what he was facing. 


What the Holy Spirit did for Peter throughout his life is possible for us also.  All we need to do is trust that God is with us, and then step out in faith, keeping our eyes on Jesus the whole time so that we do not falter.

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