August 7, 2011
Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary time A
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
Then the LORD said, "Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by." A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD--but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake--but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire--but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. 1 Kings 19:11-12
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the holy Spirit in bearing me witness that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh. Romans 9:1-3
He said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how (strong) the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:29-31
Piety
Our spiritual life challenges us to step out of the comfort zones of our lives and to walk on what seems like water when we do not have our feet firmly planted on the solid soil of our walking close to Christ. Christ comes to us in our turmoil and calms the stormy seas of our fears. Just as Peter is invited to come to Christ, our piety is how we come to Christ. We try to hear the Lord amid the noises of our lives, but he is not in the heavy winds. We are not to be crushed by the landslides of the earthquakes of our disappointments. The Lord is not coming to us in a fire that is threatening our lives. The Lord of our piety is in the tiny whispering that is the love of God in each moment of our lives as the ordinary becomes extraordinary in the discovery of the Lord’s presence in all the hidden moments of our lives. It is not just in the gigantic things of our lives that the Lord comes to us. He is always with us in the Sacrament of the present moment which touches the eternal now of God’s love for us. The hidden life grace is modeled on the thirty years of Christ’s hidden life. We have to see beyond appearances. We need to get below the surface of what we see to find the tiny whispering of God’s love for us. The Lord is always there if we know how to look.
Study
Prayer offers us the best chance to find the Lord. We spend time in the presence of God aware that God is there and not just in our thoughts about God. Giving God the due time of his love for us does not need to be a complicated time. God is there in the simplicity of our day. He is behind every act of goodness that flows from our hearts. Those with us in our prayer are blessed by being there. We need to offer God our attention. T he wordlessness of our prayer is a silence that is filled with God who is loving us as we are. The miracle of the loaves and the fishes Christ follows with his own prayer time even as he sends his disciples off to cross the lake. When our lives are tossed by the waves of storms, we need to realize that the Lord is coming to us. We need to hear his invitation to get out of the boat of our lethargy and go to him. When we think we are sinking, we need to cry out to the Lord and take the hand that he is offering to us. Christ comes to us in each offer of help that we receive.
Action
We realize that Christ is asking us too why we doubt. No matter what is happening to us, every moment of the cross in our lives is a moment of sharing the love of God that is in Christ Jesus as he dies for us. We need to use the difficulties of our lives as offerings to the Lord that can be amends for what is wrong with our world. When the disciples rejoice that they are found worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus, we too can echo their prayer as we offer to God the carrying of our crosses of life without complaint. When we offer our suffering for the sake of what is wrong in our world we imitate Christ on his cross. There can be no greater love than to give our lives for the sake of each other. We too can rejoice in our sufferings offered up for one another because then we are the suffering of Christ’s Mystical Body for the world we would save. Thus it is possible to climb the cross of Christ and to look out at our world through the eyes of Christ from his Cross. Thus we can be Christ for each other. We do not have to wait for the Lord when we are his sufferings for the world. Our joy can be the same as Paul (Col. 1, 24) when he rejoices that he is filling up what is wanting to the sufferings of Christ’s body, the church.
