19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
07 August 2011
First reading 1 Kings 19:9,11-13
When Elijah reached Horeb, the mountain of the Lord, he went into the cave and spent the night in it. Then he was told, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ Then the Lord himself went by. There came a mighty wind, so strong it tore the mountains and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there came the sound of a gentle breeze. And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Psalm: Psalm 84:9-14
Second reading Romans 9:1-5
What I want to say now is no pretence; I say it in union with Christ – it is the truth – my conscience in union with the Holy Spirit assures me of it too. What I want to say is this: my sorrow is so great, my mental anguish so endless, I would willingly be condemned and be cut off from Christ if it could help my brothers of Israel, my own flesh and blood. They were adopted as sons, they were given the glory and the covenants; the Law and the ritual were drawn up for them, and the promises were made to them. They are descended from the patriarchs and from their flesh and blood came Christ who is above all, God for ever blessed! Amen.
Gospel Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy sea, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night he went towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost’ they said, and cried out in fear. But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ It was Peter who answered. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.’ ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord! Save me!’ he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’ And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’
Reflection
By Nats Vibiesca
One day I asked my favorite teacher in the doctoral program, “Ma’am, why did you choose to be a teacher?”
She told me, “Because I want to teach. I want to teach things I want to learn more about. To be a teacher does not only mean to teach things you’ve learned, but it also means to discover many things you wanted to learn more about.”
In the Gospel, Jesus was preparing His disciples to become good disciples and good teachers by letting them discover something they need to learn more about—to be strong in times of trials.
For us who are summoned to become disciples, to become teachers, the Gospel helps us discover how to be strong when being tossed about by problems, challenges and difficulties in life.
Jesus dismissed the crowds after He fed them. But He instructed the disciples to get into the boat and go ahead to the sea. It will be a night of special training! But the special training was not for everyone, it is exclusive for the disciples. Yet, the disciples were clueless of the special training that Jesus prepared for them—how to walk on water!
I can see clearly the images: boat and waves of the sea brought about by the wind.
I thought of the boat as the position that the Lord wants us to take. He summoned us to be there into the boat—the boat of being a teacher, preacher, writer, engineer, doctor, nurse, government official, entrepreneur, etc. The boat may also mean present statuses we embrace—boat of being a student, parent, single-parent, grandparent, etc.
Strong wind creates big waves of problems to rock the boat and soon the boat will already a few miles offshore. Jesus will come to the rescue because the boat was being tossed about by the strong waves. We believe that Jesus is always coming to help us from our problems brought about by our work, our environment or by our family.
In most cases, Jesus will not solve our problems in a snap of His finger. He will come to us in an unlikely manner, that when we see Him, we will be frightened as if we are seeing a ghost. What a strange way of helping us! But don’t worry, remember that it is a special training that Jesus prepared for us!
Since it is a special training, solutions are always available to problems. Problems are actually blessings in disguise. Problems are not intended to harm us but opportunities to see Jesus. It seems automatic to see Jesus after we encounter big problems. So, there is no reason to be afraid because Jesus is not a ghost!
Keep in mind that it is a special training to: 1. acknowledge that the wind and waves of problems will always come to rock our boat; 2. to recognize Jesus coming to save us when we are so afraid of the waves; and 3. to strengthen our faith and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior.
Like Peter, many times we are strong in the beginning or just pretending to be fearless, confidently walking on water towards Jesus, but when we see the strong wind and feel the big waves in our lives, we begin to sink out of fear. Of course, we may cry out loud “Lord, save me!” and Jesus will immediately stretch out His hand to save us.
It is through sinking that our pride is taken away. We learn to be humble when we call for Jesus to save us. The strong winds and big waves force us to be steadfast in our faith.
The truth is: the “Special Training: How to Walk on Water” is actually meant for all of us—teachers and students! Jesus designed the training for all of us. We all go through strong winds and waves of our lives but the Lord tells us to strengthen our faith on Him and take courage, never doubt His Mighty Name, Jesus Christ Our Lord!
Lord, grant us salvation through following your Holy Will. May the special training in our lives strengthen our faith on You! May the Holy Spirit guide our efforts to follow You and renew our commitment to love and serve You through our neighbors! Amen.
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