Homily Nineteenth Sunday Ordinary A
Today, we celebrate the Nineteenth Sunday in the Ordinary Time. In my homily, I’ll focus on three main points.
1- My first point is about the challenge of Prophet Elijah to discern the right time of the passing of God in his life to meet Him.
God is present where we least expect him, although it is a hidden, an unseen presence, not always easy to discover. Today’s First Reading evocates the experience of Prophet Elijah in his quest of God. Elijah was fearful, and running away from King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, who wanted him dead at all cost. Hiding himself from them, Elijah went up to the holy mountain. Standing at the mouth of a cave, on the slopes of the holy mountain, he got strength and comfort from the living God. The Prophet encountered God, and his peace was restored. God came at the appropriate time, not in the mighty wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but after a gentle whisper of a breeze. The prophet of God was very attentive and vigilant to discern the appointed time when the Lord was coming in his life. When he heard the whisper of the breeze, he knew that time had come to go out and meet the Lord. A very significant lesson for us in this reading is that, when we are internally calm and away from the distractions of life, we hear God speak to us. To say that God spoke to Elijah after the gentle breeze, is simply to say that Elijah experienced peace of mind. So, contrary to what some of us think, God speaks to us when we are internally recollected and calm. We often seek God with distracted minds. In such a state, we may not find and encounter Him. It is when we are recollected, that we hear God speak to us in the silence of our heart. As it was with Elijah in the past, today, we too have the great challenge to know or discern the good time when God comes in our lives. Every day, the Lord comes into our lives. Are we vigilant enough to notice his presence? Is our heart well prepared and ready to meet with the Lord? Let us be vigilant to meet him through all the sacraments we receive such as, the Sacrament of Penance, the Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament, a Retreat time, the Meditation of Scriptures or a Rosary Prayer. Although throughout the Old Testament God speaks from the storm wind, earthquake, and fire, He speaks to Elijah instead in a tiny whispering sound. Elijah, often a silent man himself, recognizes the voice that speaks in near silence. Let us be prepared to hear the voice of God not only in dramatic crises and in the noises of our world, but in the quiet of our everyday lives. Where God is, there is peace. But his presence is everywhere, for those who learn to discern it.
2- My second point is about the place and the importance of prayer in Jesus’ life.
To better understand today’s Gospel, it seems important to have a retrospective view of the Gospel of the multiplication of bread we heard last Sunday because today’s Gospel is a continuation of the Gospel of last Sunday. After feeding more than five thousand people, Jesus dismisses the crowd. And the beginning of today’s Gospel states that after he dismissed the crowd, Jesus went up to the mountain by himself to pray alone. Prayer was very important in Jesus’ life. In many occasions, the Gospels tell us how Jesus went up alone to the mountain to pray. “The Mountain” here is the place of silence where occurs the encounter between Jesus and His Heavenly Father. The Mountain is the quiet place where the human heart, out of all noises and distraction of this world, can meet with God. Before doing everything, Jesus took time to pray first. For example, in the Gospel of the miracle of multiplication of bread, we saw that before doing the miracle, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing. In other words, he prayed first to ask for the Father’s strength and assistance, so that the glory of God may be revealed. Then, after the miracle, Jesus went alone on the mountain to pray in Thanksgiving, to thank God his Father for glorifying his Son. Let us imitate Jesus to take a little time of prayer alone every day, out of the world, far from the noise of our communities and families, to go on the mountain of our hearts to adore God our Father in truth. As Saint Teresa of Avila said, “Prayer is being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him who, we know, loves us.” In addition, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus said, “For me, Prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven; it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” 
3- My Last point is about Trust, trusting in God.
Today’s Gospel is about a Theophany, the manifestation of God’s power through the miraculous walk of Jesus on the sea. Out of the stormy sea, the apostles do not recognize Jesus and are terrified. The Lord says to them, “Take courage, it is l; do not be afraid.” This word of the Lord is never to raise false confidence in his people, but rather it’s an invitation to find our security and confidence in Jesus. Echoing the relevant comment of Pope Benedict XVI about this Gospel, we can say that “The sea symbolizes this life and the instability of the visible world; the storm points to every kind of trial or difficulty that oppresses human beings. The boat, instead, represents the Church, built by Christ and steered by the Apostles (…). Jesus wanted to teach the disciples to bear life’s adversities courageously, trusting in God (…). Peter walks on the water, not by his own effort but rather through divine grace, in which he believes. And when he was smitten by doubt, when he no longer fixed his gaze on Jesus but was frightened by the gale, when he failed to put full trust in the Teacher’s words, it means that he was interiorly distancing himself from the Teacher and so risked sinking in the sea of life. So it is also for us: if we look only at ourselves, we become dependent on the winds and can no longer pass through storms on the waters of life. The Lord is always close, being at the root of our being. Yet we must experience our relationship with God between the poles of distance and closeness. By closeness we are strengthened; by distance we are put to the test. My Dear Friends, the troubled faith of the Apostle Peter enables us to understand that even before we seek the Lord or invoke him, it is he himself who comes to meet us, who lowers heaven to stretch out his hand to us and raise us to his heights; all he expects of us is that we trust totally in him, that we really take hold of his hand. Let us call on the Virgin Mary, model of total entrustment to God, so that amidst the plethora of anxieties, problems, and difficulties which chum up the sea of our life, our hearts may resonate with the reassuring words of Jesus who also says to us today, ‘My Brother and Sister of Saint Patrick of Placerville and Saint James of Georgetown, Take courage, it is l; do not be afraid. I am here with you. Just have trust in Me.”
Rev. Pepin W. F. DANDOU
Georgetown, CA August 8, 2020.