Breaking Open the Word - 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – August 9th, 2020
This Sunday’s readings call us to a deeper commitment of faith, even when we are in challenging times and God seems absent. At first glance, St. Peter’s “bid me come to You on the water” in today’s Gospel seems like a crazy request. Should he, storm-tossed and terrified, be asking to leave behind the last scrap of safety he has by stepping out of the boat? However Peter isn’t quite as crazy as he looks. He sees Jesus calmly striding across the stormy sea and trusts that He is in control. Therefore, the safest place to be is with Him! We all encounter “storms” in life, and often our response is to cling to those created things that give us a sense of security. Jesus, however, calls us to let go of even those little “life-rafts” and surrender ourselves to Him in complete trust. And when we falter, as did Peter, Christ is still there to catch us. One Sister actually noted that the Gospel implies Peter and Jesus walked on the water together to get back to the boat, and then Christ calmed the storm. In other words, Peter got a “second chance,” this time supported more directly by Christ, to prove his faith and trust!
But how do we come to such a great trust? The answer can be found by looking a little closer at the relationship between Jesus and Peter. Whenever the first Apostle appears in the Gospels, he is seeking to be as near to Christ as possible. He drops his nets and leaves everything to follow the Lord; he walks on water to reach Jesus; and even in his darkest hour, he is still following Christ, albeit “from a distance.” Peter’s classic impetuosity is really just a passionately wholehearted love for his Lord, a love that loses sight of all else when it comes to seeking Him. Even Peter’s rebuke in response to Christ’s first Passion prediction (“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to You”) comes out of his anguish at the thought of losing Jesus. It is this all-consuming love, then, that is the secret to Peter’s trust and the key for us as well. The more we make Jesus the center of our lives, coming to know Him through prayer, Adoration, reading the Scriptures, and studying our faith, the more we grow in our confidence that He truly is in control. Then, when storms threaten, we can have the faith to ask Him, “Lord, if it is You, bid me come to You on the water.”
The First Reading discusses another situation in which God calls us to greater faith and trust. Just like the wind, earthquake, and fire, our struggles and temptations are often loud and clear, while God speaks only in a “tiny whispering sound.” Why is it that He makes Himself so difficult to hear at times? Why doesn’t He speak as loudly and obviously as do the world, the flesh, and the devil? One Sister suggested that this is actually an act of His mercy. If we were to see and hear God in all His power and glory, we wouldn’t be able to stand it! And besides, isn’t gentleness the most striking and beautiful in one who is lovingly choosing to restrain great strength? The classic image is that of a big, strong father tenderly cradling a tiny newborn.
Another Sister discussed an even deeper reason for this Divine gentleness, a reason which has to do with the image God wishes us to have of Him. He desires to be known as Father more than Master, to be loved in freedom more than followed in fear. We must freely choose to listen to a “tiny whispering sound,” whereas a loud shout is more likely to coerce us. Furthermore, while human relationships often begin with lots of communication out loud, growing intimacy usually leads to fewer and quieter words, since the people involved understand each other so well. Our relationship with God follows the same pattern – initially He may “speak” to us much more clearly and more often through consolations and insights, but as we grow in intimacy with Him He becomes quieter and quieter, teaching us to abide with Him in love that needs no words.