Trusting In God Without Ifs And Buts!

(Homily 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr-A)

    The great message of today’s liturgy hinges on God’s revelation and the human response towards it.  In the first reading (1Kgs. 19:9.11-13) God revealed himself to Elijah with the soft breeze on Mount Horeb. And in the Gospel narrative (Mt. 14:22-33) Jesus revealed himself to the disciples as the Son of God through his dominion over the waters of the agitated sea and through his mysterious words: “It is I, do not be afraid”. St. Paul on his part in the second reading (Rm. 9:1-5) was very much aware that God has revealed himself to the people of Israel: “to them belong adoption as sons, the glorious presence of God, the covenant, the law, the cult and the promise” (Rm. 9:4). On the other hand, divine revelation requires a human response. Thus, the response of Elijah before the presence of God was that of Holy fear: “He covered his face with his mantle” (1Kg. 19:13) and obedience of faith. That of Peter instead was of fear and doubt: “man of little faith, because you have doubted” (Mt. 14:31), instead that of the rest of the disciples was of faith: “truly, you are the Son of God” (Mt. 14:33). In the second reading, St. Paul manifested his sadness on the people of Israel who responded by refusing the revelation of Jesus and his divine filiation. What is your own response? Man’s response as we have seen varies: it can be that of acceptance, rejection, disinterest or indifference.  But above all, the thrilling message of today is for us to trust in God at all times even in dark moments of our life. He is the I AM, His voice continues to re-echo in the various situations of our earthly existence: “It is I, do not be afraid”.

     In the first reading (1Kgs. 19:9.11-13) God revealed himself to man not through concepts, but through symbolic actions and rapport. To Elijah that ran away from Mount Carmel in order not to be assassinated by Jezebel (1Kg. 19:1-3), God made him to pass through Palestine from North to South, in order to take him to Mount Horeb, the Holy Mountain of God, mount of divine revelation. Elijah prayed to God thus: "Lord, I have had enough. Take away my life." But after this Horeb encounter, his prayer changed: "I am filled with jealous zeal for the Lord of hosts”. In the spiritual context of the mountain, in solitude and prayer, God revealed himself to Elijah. To Moses, he revealed himself through lightening, fire and sounds (cf. Ex. 19:16-19). Here, he will reveal himself to Elijah through a gentle breeze. In this episode Elijah felt isolated and undefended, and he was afraid of the power and cruelty of Jezebel who was persecuting him. As he was perturbed about how Jezebel is going to triumph over him, suddenly there came the gentle breeze, a sign of the invisible but real presence and action of God. Elijah did not feel lonely again, despite all, he understood that in Israel there are still many faithful people. It was indeed a moment of encounter, Elijah encountered the Lord in “a light murmuring sound”, after hurricane, earthquake and fire the Lord comes in a light murmuring sound of a gentle breeze. Elijah covered his face to adore Him. We see a similar gesture at the end of the Gospel, where the men in the boat bowed down before Jesus saying: “Truly, you are the Son of God”. We too are to be part of this adoration. We are no longer to cover our faces but to recognize his presence and power at work in and for us. The similar experience of fear and doubt of Peter in the Gospel, was experienced also by Elijah, who in that famous theophany on Mount Horeb, was perturbed and afraid of how he is going to escape the wrought of queen Jezebel. But the Lord assured him, that He will intervene in his favour and the prophet reacquired trust and courage. Thus, it is an invitation for us to trust firmly in God and not to panic even in the face of life challenges.

     In today’s Gospel (Mt. 14:22-33) we see an important element: Prayer. After the miracle of the multiplication of bread and fish, Jesus rejected triumphalism for He sent the crowds away and went to the hills to pray. Jesus passed through long hours of Prayer, in dialogue with the Father (cf. Mt.14:23), while the disciples were helpless before the waves. Suddenly, they saw a human figure coming towards them and they thought it was a ghost. Jesus took advantage of this circumstance to reveal to them his most intimate identity, through a symbolic gesture; as Yahweh in the Old Testament (cf. Jb. 9:8; Ps. 77:19), he walked on the water, demonstrating that he is the Lord of the Sea and of Nature. When Jesus came across the water and saw his disciples plunged into fear, he said to them: “Courage! It is I. Do not be afraid”. With these words Christ revealed and identified himself as God. He is the “I am”. He is saying I am God, fear not. He revealed to his disciples his divine Name: “I am”. Like Yahweh to Moses (cf. Ex. 3:15). Jesus shows his disciples his divine power, but especially, he revealed his divine filiation, as the Son of God. In this Gospel narrative according to Mathew, we see a number of movements and events that seem to take place in just a short period of time: Jesus made his disciples get into the boat, he told them to go ahead of him to the other side, then He sent the crowds away and went to the hills to pray. Then, in the night when the disciples were facing rough waves, He walked on the sea; he calmed the wind and saved Peter as well.

     This passage therefore can be presented in three perspectives or better put; it can be interpreted under three different dimensions. ●First, the Christological dimension, in this passage the figure of Christ is predominant. Jesus revealed himself in his majesty, power and dominion over the forces of nature. At the end, those in the boat exclaimed: “You are truly the Son of God”. ●Second, the Ecclesiological dimension that is with reference to the Church. Indeed, here the figure of Peter is different from others, and it indicates his function of primacy among the apostles and in the Church. The boat pressed hard by the waves represents the Church, who encounters the first difficulties, external persecutions and internal tensions. In fact, along history lane, we see how the Church suffered from one persecution to the other. This has been the history of the Church, even as revealed in some pages of the New Testament. St. Peter in his letter addressed the Christians in the following words: “My dear friends, do not be taken aback at the testing by fire which is taking place among you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1Pt. 4:12) and again: “Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that it is the same kind of suffering that the community of your brothers throughout the world is undergoing” (1Pt. 5:9). But Jesus is with the Church and He has dominion over all the adverse powers threatening the Church. ●Third, is the Spiritual dimension, it is with reference to our personal experience. In our spiritual experience sometimes we are like a boat that encounters contrary winds and waves and thus finds it difficult to move on, and risks sinking. In fact, everyone in one way or another encounters difficulties, delusions and bitterness, many a times we find ourselves in the shoes of Peter. Sometimes like Peter we seem to bubble in our faith and it does appear we can give our life for Him, but some other times, we are taken by doubts and fear, and we enter into crises. How many times, have we merited the reproach of Peter: “Man of little faith, why did you doubt? But in all this, Jesus in his love and kindness continues to stretch out his hand towards us. He intervenes so that we do not sink. He restores our trust.

     Jesus called him “man of little faith”, Peter in this episode represents every one of us. With his instinctive impulse, without giving it a second thought, he said to Jesus, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water”, in fact, he already doubted Jesus. Just as it happens to us many a times, when we face trials we begin to doubt God, his existence and his goodness, and doubting we sink the more. Peter without much hesitation left the boat and jumped into the sea to walk. According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer Peter had to leave the boat and risk his life in order to learn perhaps the most valuable lesson and straightest path in the spiritual journey: the realization of both his own weakness and omnipotence of Jesus. But also, Peter teaches us how to come out of every situation, no matter how difficult, he cried: “Lord save me”. And immediately Jesus extended his hand to him, He held him and said man of little faith, why do you doubt? Indeed, prayer is like the cry of the soul that places all its trust in God. No matter what you are passing through today call on Him, just as Peter did. We should long to hear those wonderful words of Jesus: “Courage, it’s me, do not be afraid”.

     Behold, in situations of anguish and panic, whenever this passage of Mathew’s Gospel is proclaimed, we draw some inferences of certainty of trust: that the Master is not far from us, He will not leave us alone to combat with the waves and the wind, we only need to invoke Him and He will come to our aid. Indeed, this trust is founded on the certainty that He is risen and he lives (cf. Rev. 1:17-18). There is an important element emanating from this passage and it is derived from the words of Jesus to Peter: “Courage! It’s me! Don’t be afraid” (v.27) and Peter answered “Lord, he said, if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water” (v.28). We should never lose sight of the presence of God or let our trust in the Lord waver, even in moments of difficulties and challenges. It is an invitation therefore, to us, not to fix our gaze up or down on the rough waves we might be experiencing in various situations of our life, rather to have our gaze fixed on Jesus. If you remove your gaze from Him you sink. Peter almost suffered near-success syndrome. For when Jesus came at the scene of the waves He calmed the waves and Peter now out of his impulsive character doubted Jesus. Jesus granted him to walk on the water, He started well but on noticing the wind he became afraid and began to sink almost at the verge of the completion of his own miracle. Many of us are like Peter, we begin our projects, businesses, life endeavours, and spiritual undertakings well but hardly arrive at the desired aim. Let us pray therefore against every spirit of near success syndrome. So that God’s purpose in our life will be accomplished.

    In that episode, we are told that Jesus came towards them at the fourth watch of the night, that’s towards the end of the night, he did not come before, he came when they were at the peak of the trial and were very tired too, when it does appear they have to resolve everything solely with their own power, in the absence, distance and silence of the Master. But the Master was thinking of them, in fact he was coming towards them, for he was aware of their difficulties. Similarly, in our own experiences of the apparent distance and silence of God, in the darkness of our own night, he is very close to us. But it is important that we implore him, just as Mark reported in his Gospel when Jesus was apparently sleeping during the storm: “Master, do you not care? We are lost” (Mk. 4:38). Today we are called to recognize His presence. Thus, it is an invitation for us to remain in the boat and proclaim together with the apostles the faith that saves. Till today, Jesus is still the question-raiser. "What sort of man is this?" (Mt. 8:27), "Can this be the son of David?" (Mt. 12:23). The impact of meeting Jesus, the moment He joined them in the boat stimulated the disciples to make a full confession of Christian faith. Just as Mathew reported: “The men in the boat bowed down before him and said: Truly, you are the Son of God” (Mt. 14:33).

          In the second reading (Rm. 9:1-5) St. Paul reminds us of the extraordinary prerogative of the Israelites before God, he underlined that “his were the patriarchs and from them as man, Christ came” (Rm. 9:5). With the patriarchs the historical revelation of God began, and with Christ the revelation reached its culminating point, and fullness. God revealed himself as the Faithful per excellence, who does not regret of his choice or of his promises to the chosen people. Little wonder, the covenant of God with the Israelites remains, irrespective of their infidelity. But the emotion of Paul here is similar to that of Elijah in the first reading. Paul too, was having in his heart great bitterness, his co-Jews, anyway, many of them rejected Jesus and now they are rejecting his Church. He expressed his bitterness, for after his effort of bringing his fellow Jews to Jesus Christ, the result was very much disappointing and he never failed remarking the fault of Israel. Irrespective of the disappointments and delusions he never stopped loving his people, to the point of declaring himself ready for all things, even to save them.

      In all, the story of Elijah in the first reading teaches us never to give up on God, because He does not give up on us. Similarly, in the episode of the Gospel at the outset of the story when the disciples were facing the waves they were terribly afraid but Jesus comes to their rescue. One can imagine how reassuring those words (Courage, it is I. Do not be afraid) of Jesus were to them. Above all else, the message for us today is quite clear: when fears and problems assail us, when God seems to be remote, afar, and forgetful of our plight and challenges, we should learn how to prayerful shout: “Lord save us”! And may He save us from all challenges, from every near-death experience and from near success-syndrome. Today more than ever, just as Jesus did at the beginning of the Gospel we need to create space for prayer and silence, oasis of meditation and moments of interior tranquillity. For it is in such atmosphere that the presence of the Lord is made manifest. God is never late. May the Lord always be punctual at our points of need, at that moment we think all is lost, may He appear and speak to us: “Courage, it is I, do not be afraid.” God speaks and he is speaking to you with the words of the Psalmist: “Be still and acknowledge that I am God supreme over the nations, supreme over the world” (Ps. 46:10). Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)