Homily for Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A. (Sunday, August 13)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ
Today’s first reading presents us with Elijah hiding in a cave. Why was he hiding? He ran away from the public and hid himself in the cave because Jezebel the wife of Ahab wanted to kill him.
However, God came to him through a tiny whispering sound and instructed him to get out of the cave and go to the mountain to meet God there.
What do we learn from Elijah story in today’s first reading.
The story of Elijah can be a comfort and an encouragement to us. Being a strong person of God does not mean that we will never be persecuted or feel discouraged, but rather, it means looking to God when faced with adversity.
Elijah felt alone, and didn’t understand God’s plan. However, in spite of the fear he had, he still listened to God’s voice, searched for him and went out of the cave. By going out he risked his life but trusted in God.
As it was with Elijah, so it is with us today. There are so many caves in which we are hiding due to different kinds of fears. What fears are you having? And what cave are you hiding in. Some people fear to confront their fears and so resort to drinking alcohol or using other narcotic drugs. So alcohol or narcotic drugs become their cave to hide in.
Today we are challenged to get out of our caves. At times we are required to confront our challenges if we are to meet the Lord. We have to get out of our caves if we are to meet our Lord and grow strong in faith.
The gospel today also presents us with a very fascinating yet challenging scene of Jesus walking on water. In this scene, Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him by boat, dismisses the crowds, and then withdraws to the mountain to pray. It was very difficult for the disciples to sail on the water. They struggled but the strong wind and waves were against them and so they made little progress in their journey. Jesus decided to reach out to them by the means of walking on the water. When the disciples saw him, they thought it was a ghost.
Jesus calls to the disciples and calms their fears. He is not a ghost. Then Peter sought for proof that the person is indeed Jesus. He asks Jesus to call him out onto the water, and Jesus grants this request. Peter too, started walking on the water towards Jesus. When his eyes were focused on Jesus he was able to walk on the water.
However, when he put his eyes off Jesus and focused on the surrounding, he saw the strong wind and waves against him. Fear and doubt overtook him and he began to sink. However, Jesus reached out to him by the hand and saved him. When Jesus and Peter enter the boat, Matthew reports that the wind ceased, and the disciples confessed that Jesus is the Son of God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what do we learn for today’s gospel?
We are walking a spiritual journey. There are many waters we are walking on and there are many strong waves and wind against us. They want to prevent us from reaching Jesus. These waves and wind can be in form of modern Ideologies against faith and religion. If we entirely focus our eyes on such ideologies we are going to sink. But if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus irrespective of our surrounding we shall overcome every storm and with Jesus we shall calm every situation.
May God bless you all.
Fr. Stephen Kakande C.S.Sp
St. Jospeh Parish Luquillo PR.