Homily For The 19TH Sunday In The Ordinary Time (A). August 13, 2023.
“Trials and tribulations offer us a chance to make reparation for our past faults and sins. On such occasions, the Lord comes to us like a physician to heal the wounds left by our sins. Tribulation is divine medicine.”– St. Augustine of Hippo
Sunday Readings
My Dearest Friends in Christ,
Peace be with you all as we gather once again to worship and renew our spiritual life through the animating power of God’s word.
Today’s readings reassure us of the Divine Presence amid the storms and vicissitudes of life. Let us always find reassurance in these words, “Courage it is I, do not be afraid“, as we struggle to overcome the storms of life.
God often manifests His presence In unexpected ways
In the first reading from the book of Kings, Elijah’s encounter with God on the mountain was one he least expected. He expected God to reveal Himself through one of the ways of His theophanic manifestations to His predecessors. Surprisingly, God was neither in the wind, in the fire, nor the earthquake. God chose not to reveal Himself in these three dramatic phenomena but in a tiny whispering sound. This tells us that God works in mysterious ways often incomprehensible to us. Divine Presence is never confined to any mode of manifestation. God chooses where and how to show us His Divine Presence. This reminds us again that in the stillness and quietness of daily experience, God speaks to us.
Our expectations of God’s manifestation of His Divine Presence can often lead us to doubt even when He reveals Himself. In moments of trial and suffering, we often doubt His Divine Presence. That is why we often question His Divine Presence amid our sufferings.
When the storms of life rage, God is never absent.
In the Gospel, from the mountain where He had gone to pray, Jesus knew that the disciples were troubled by the storms, just as He always knows when the storms of life are tossing you around. He came to rescue them just in time, in the same way, He always comes to us when we are in trouble, even though we often think He is absent or delayed in coming. As the disciples could not recognize Him and thought He was a ghost, in the same manner, the storms of life becloud our minds from experiencing and seeing God’s Presence around us. Oftentimes, we do not see what He is already doing in our lives because we have doubts and certain unrealistic expectations about what God must do and when He must do it.
Stay Focused on God or Look Away and Drown
Peter seemed convinced and requested to come to Jesus Who came to them walking on the sea. He said, “If it is You, Lord, command me to come to You on the water.” Immediately Jesus gave him the power to walk on the stormy sea. God often gives us the grace to conquer our doubts and to overcome that which makes us afraid, but we must remain focused on Him. Remaining focused on relying on God in prayer when we are tossed around by the storms of life is a sure way to achieve victory. When we are distracted and lost as in the case of Peter, we begin to sink. “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”
― C.S. Lewis.
Peter started sinking when he lost his focus on Christ. At first, Peter had faith in Christ’s words; that faith cast his doubts away and strengthened him to do the impossible– walk on the sea. When his faith gave way to doubts, he started sinking. Peter might have begun wondering how he could be walking on the sea amidst the stormy wind. He was at that moment contemplating how dangerous the storm was. This cast fears on his mind, making him forget the authority on whose command he was working and the grace he was being given to walk on the stormy sea. When he walked by faith he made it, but when he lost faith and walked by sight he sank (cf. 2 Cor 5:7). “Faith is like a bright ray of sunlight. It enables us to see God in all things as well as all things in God.” –St. Francis de Sales
My dear friend, every moment you spend thinking about your problems and entertaining doubts and fears about them, are wasted moments that contribute nothing to your spiritual vitality and victory. It turns your focus away from God toward what you are suffering. It weighs you down even more, and you see yourself sinking daily and giving up on yourself and God. We often doubt, even when God has given us the grace to overcome our present condition of suffering. Your fears and doubts create the illusion of the absence of God, and the emptiness you feel in times of suffering. This often leads to exaggerating our problems and entertaining thoughts of despair as if everything has completely gone bad and beyond any remedy. It makes us afraid of not just the present problem but the unknown ones. However, my dear friend, your antidote to fear and doubts is faith in God, and awareness of His Divine Presence every moment of your life. It was CS Lewis who once said: “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the Presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.” Keep in mind that our help shall come from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”(cf. Psalm 121:2)
Be passionate about helping others find salvation and avoid leading them astray
Paul in the second reading expressed his sorrow that Israel had turned away from God. This bothered him greatly and that is why he uses every possible assurance to declare his sorrow over Isreal who has abandoned God as their Messiah. He was ready to be separated from Christ if that would accomplish the salvation of Israel. In Paul, we see a man passionate about the salvation of others. In the same way, God is passionate about our salvation and compassionate as we go through the challenges of life. Dear friend, God wants you to look deeper into the storms around you and see them as positive instruments of transformation to achieve a higher purpose which is the salvation of your soul. We pray daily not only that God frees us from every pain, but that He might through our sufferings purify and make us whole.
Sinking Already? Cry out to God and be rescued
God is still here to lift you when you are sinking if you cry out to Him. May your faith in Christ be strong and not little, no matter the painful experiences you are facing. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4:14).
Do not fail to pay God homage when He calms the storm in your life. Our faith must be expressed in our daily gratitude for God’s salvific works in our lives.
May the daily inspiration of the word of God nourish your soul, transform your life and liberate you from all problems drowning you.
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
