Introduction: May
you continue to be open to God’s self-revelation to you and may it empower you
to share with others your faith relationship with God.
The Lord Jesus desires that we “know’ God. That is the
reason that Jesus came among us – to reveal Who His Abba-Father is and to help
us to develop an ever-deepening relationship with God. The problem is that we
often try to make God fit into our understanding and make God into our image
rather than try to form ourselves into the image of God as God intends us to
be. It is important for us to take the time to “know” God. It requires that we
reflect on God’s Word (both in Scripture and in the person of Jesus). As we
continue the process of being aware of God’s loving presence with us, we must
be willing to share that experience with others and invite them to follow the
Lord Jesus as He reveals Himself, His Abba-Father, and the Holy Spirit to us
and to them.
Today we are reminded of God’s omni-presence (being
everywhere). In the First Reading, Elijah is told that he will experience the
presence of God. Three mighty forces come upon Elijah, but God is not revealed
in them. Yet, God does come to Elijah in an unexpected way. Our psalm response
today repeats the phrase: “LORD, let us see Your kindness, and grant us Your
salvation.” In the Second Reading, St. Paul is saddened that his people, the
Hebrews (the Israelites, the Jews), have not recognized the presence of God in
their midst in the teaching and person of Jesus. In the Gospel, Jesus makes His
presence known to the apostles as they are being tossed about in a boat on a
stormy sea.
First Reading: 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a: ‘Stand on the mount
before the Lord.’
Commentary: This
awesome story of Elijah’s encounter with the LORD is read today to pair with
Peter’s encounter with Jesus, the Son of God, on Lake Galilee. Mount Horeb,
where it occurred, is an awesome place, a rocky mountain on Sinai. No earth,
vegetation, or animals, just stark rock, some iron-ore red, some granite-grey,
some almost sulphur-green. It was here that Moses and the People of Israel had
their experience of God, too, and the silent mountains almost speak of God.
Elijah was fleeing from the threat of persecution, a trek of forty days and
forty nights. There are experiences which cannot be put into words, whether it
is the ecstasy of love or music or beauty. No one can adequately express in
words the experience of an encounter with God, and Elijah’s is described quite
differently from that of Moses, who experienced God in thunder, lightning and
earthquake. The ‘light, murmuring sound’ is literally ‘a sound of silence’. In
any case the experience strengthened him enough to return to his mission. It is
because of these encounters that Moses and Elijah are present at the
Transfiguration, when the closest disciples experience the divinity of Jesus on
the holy mountain.
Responsorial Psalm 85:9ab, 10. 11-12. 13-14. Show us, O
LORD, your mercy, and grant us your salvation.
The psalm seems to imply that God’s presence can be felt in
the peace and calm of people acting justly and seeking the truth. God is not
just a powerful warrior deity who strikes people with anger and vengeance. The
LORD is a God of peace and justice. That is what God wants most for the people
who are called by the LORD’s name. It is in the practice of peace and justice
where God’s presence can be experienced.
Second Reading: Romans 9:1-5: ‘I wish that I were
accursed for the sake of my brothers and sisters.’
Commentary: After
his exposition of Christ’s saving work Paul turns to the question which
tortures him: how is it that Israel, so long prepared, failed to recognize the
fulfilment of the prophecies. Paul was a Jew through and through, and was
deeply wounded by the failure of his own people to welcome Jesus, despite all
the privileges given them which he here details. For Paul Christianity is the
conclusion to which Judaism was meant to lead. But God never revokes his gifts,
and these gifts still belong to the Jews; it can never be said that the Jews
have been superseded and lost their status as God’s chosen people. For the next
two chapters Paul quotes every conceivable scripture to show that the
rebellions of the Jews against God throughout their history made it inevitable
that they would fail to recognize the Messiah. Nevertheless, he insists, a
remnant will turn to the Lord in the end. The dead branches have been cut off
to make room for the gentiles to be grafted in, and the old branches will be
grafted in again at the end. The horticultural image obviously does not
work – you can’t graft in dead branches – and finally Paul simply
throws up his hands and praises the inscrutable wisdom of God.
Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33: ‘Command me to come to you on
the water.’
Commentary: The
Christian people is often depicted as a boat, with Peter at the helm. As in a
boat, everyone has their part to play: kids to bring the excitement and the
challenge, parents to take the responsibility, grandparents just to be there to
comfort and reassure. Without Jesus they were getting exhausted, frustrated and
probably bad-tempered and quarrelling. When Jesus appears everything changes:
first, terror and awed amazement, then Peter rushes to meet him – and
loses confidence, only to be swiftly rescued. How does Jesus come to me? In the
joys of family? In the unwelcome criticism of an angry neighbour who tells me
the truth about myself? In the worries of a job or the agonies of a failed
relationship? In the staggering beauty of creation? In physical pain? All these
can bring God’s presence, and without that presence we cannot expect to cope.
Jesus does not force himself upon us. He just jogs us, and says, ‘Here I am if
you want me.’ He may disappear into the sea-mist again for a time, and we may
sink into the water like mistrustful Peter. But it all ends with a welcome and
a recognition that Jesus can cope even with a life-threatening situation.
Reflection: Does the Lord Jesus seem distant when trials or adversity come your way? It was at Jesus' initiative that the disciples sailed across the lake, only to find themselves in a life-threatening storm. Although they were experienced fishermen, they feared for their lives. While Jesus was not with them in the boat, he, nonetheless watched for them in prayer. When he perceived their trouble he came to them on the sea and startled them with his sudden appearance. Do you look for the Lord's presence when you encounter difficulty or challenges?
Fight fear with faith: This
dramatic incident on the sea of Galilee revealed Peter's character more fully
than others. Here we see Peter's impulsiveness - his tendency to act without
thinking of what he was doing. He often failed and came to grief as a result of
his impulsiveness. In contrast, Jesus always bade his disciples to see how
difficult it was to follow him before they set out on the way he taught them. A
great deal of failure in the Christian life is due to acting on impulse and
emotional fervor without counting the cost. Peter, fortunately in the moment of
his failure clutched at Jesus and held him firmly. Every time Peter fell, he
rose again. His failures only made him love the Lord more deeply and trust him
more intently.
The Lord keeps watch over us at all times, and especially in
our moments of temptation and difficulty. Do you rely on the Lord for his
strength and help? Jesus assures us that we have no need of fear if we trust in
Him and in his great love for us. When calamities or trials threaten to
overwhelm you, how do you respond? With faith and hope in God's love, care and
presence with you?
Lord Jesus, help me to trust you always and to never doubt
your presence and your power to help me. In my moments of doubt and weakness,
may I cling to you as Peter did. Strengthen my faith that I may walk straight
in the path you set before me, neither veering to the left nor to the right.
Daily Quote from the Early
Church Fathers: Welcoming the
Lord Jesus with expectant faith and humility, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430
A.D.
"While human praise does not tempt the Lord, people are
often ruffled and nearly entranced by human praise and honors in the church.
Peter was afraid on the sea, terrified by the great force of the storm. Indeed,
who does not fear that voice: 'Those who say you are happy place you in error
and disturb the path of your feet' (Isaiah 3:12 Vulgate translation)? And since
the soul struggles against the desire for human praise, it is good for it to
turn to prayer and petition amid such danger, lest one who is charmed by praise
be overcome by criticism and reproach. Let Peter, about to sink in the waves,
cry out and say, 'Lord, save me!' The Lord reached out his hand. He chided
Peter, saying, 'O man of little faith, why did you doubt?' - that is, why did
you not, gazing straight at the Lord as you approached, pride yourself only in
him? Nevertheless he snatched Peter from the waves and did not allow him who
was declaring his weakness and asking the Lord for help to perish."
(excerpt from SERMON 75:10)
course correction: “He
perceived how strong the wind was.” —Matthew 14:30
In today’s Gospel, St. Peter “began to walk on the water,
moving toward Jesus. But when he perceived how strong the wind was, becoming
frightened, he began to sink” (Mt 14:29-30). Wind and wave conditions were
vital information for a fisherman like Peter. Thousands of days and nights
studying the wind and waves had honed his instincts as a fisherman for making
critical decisions. At this point in his discipleship training, Peter was still
learning how to look at Jesus for guidance. Jesus was teaching Peter not to
doubt, and to form the practice of looking at Him rather than any other source
of information. The Master’s appraisal of Peter was that he still had “little
faith” (Mt 14:31).
In addition to fearing the dangers of bad weather, Peter may
additionally have been checking the winds and waves in preparation to make a
“course correction,” as he would have often done as a ship’s “captain.” Should
he correct course by retreating toward the safety of the boat, or should he
continue on course by walking toward Jesus and risking his life?
God also called the prophet Elijah to make a “course
correction.” Elijah was fleeing from his own “wind and waves,” that is, the
wrath of Queen Jezebel (see 1 Kgs 19:2ff). Elijah had spent forty days and
nights fleeing in the opposite direction from her (1 Kgs 19:8). God changed
Elijah’s direction; He sent him along a different path, to anoint several
leaders who would alter Israel’s future (1 Kgs 19:15-16).
Is God calling you to make a course correction? If so, where
will you gain your information? Look to Jesus (Heb 12:2). “He will make
straight your paths” (Prv 3:6).
Prayer: Father,
“teach me Your paths” (Ps 25:4). Help me to look only at Jesus for Your sure
path (Prv 4:25-27). “The Lord Himself will give His benefits.” —Ps 85:13.
Praise Jesus, risen, glorified, and soon to come. Alleluia!
The personal action for
today: When have I experienced
the presence of God in an unexpected way? How was it unexpected? How have I
been asked to step out in faith? Was I able to keep my focus on the LORD, or
was I distracted by the events around me or about centering too much on myself?
How can I help others who are being tossed about in the storms of life to be
reassured of God’s presence with them?
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the
Cross: A brilliant philosopher
who stopped believing in God when she was 14, Edith Stein was so captivated by
reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey
that led to her baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Saint Teresa
by becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau, Germany—now
Wroclaw, Poland—Edith abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the
University of Göttingen, she became fascinated by phenomenology–an approach to
philosophy. Excelling as a protégé of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading
phenomenologists, Edith earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued
as a university teacher until 1922, when she moved to a Dominican school in
Speyer; her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich
ended under pressure from the Nazis.
After living for four years in the Cologne Carmel, Teresa
Benedicta of the Cross moved to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands,
in 1938. The Nazis occupied that country in 1940. In retaliation for being
denounced by the Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested all Dutch Jews who had
become Christians. Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, died
in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942. Pope John Paul II beatified
Teresa Benedicta of the Cross in 1987 and canonized her 12 years later.
The writings of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross fill 17
volumes, many of which have been translated into English. A woman of integrity,
she followed the truth wherever it led her. After becoming a Catholic, Edith
continued to honor her mother’s Jewish faith. Sister Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D.,
translator of several of Edith’s books, sums up this saint with the phrase,
“Learn to live at God’s hands.”
