August 31^st 2014.  TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Matthew 16:21-27

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL Matthew 16:21-27

Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you’.
But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’

Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?

‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The first reading tells of the internal struggle in the prophet Jeremiah between the desire for self-preservation and the burning desire to follow the Lord. In the Gospel reading, Jesus tells the disciples that he must suffer greatly in order to fulfil his mission. Peter takes Jesus aside and remonstrates with him. He thinks Jesus should be able to complete his mission without having to undertake the journey to that goal. In reply Jesus says “Get behind me Satan!” This is addressed to Peter who had just been made the rock on which the church is to be built! The struggle within Jeremiah and Peter is the same struggle within each of us. It is the struggle between flesh and blood (Simon, son of John) and the spirit that the Lord has instilled in each of us (the new name, Peter, that the Lord bestows on us). Each of us has a natural inclination towards self-preservation, comfort, the avoidance of suffering. But the process of becoming children of God involves an inevitable element of purification. To become a child of the Kingdom, I must learn how to love, and love requires self-denial. None of us can be a faithful spouse, parent or friend if we do not learn to deny our own projects and interests. Following Jesus involves a cost to ourselves, but this cost is small when we realize that it is the cost of renouncing our previous limited egocentric life and embracing the eternal life that the Lord has to offer.

The internal struggle that Jeremiah experiences is a struggle that exists inside each one of us

The remarkable first reading tells of the moment of crisis that has befallen Jeremiah. He has been called to do the work of the prophet but he does not have the kind of combative character that befits a prophet. His denouncement of evil and injustice has led to him being cast out by his own people. Now he laments: “You have seduced me Lord. You have overpowered me.” What is Jeremiah referring to here? In what way has the Lord done him violence? The battle that Jeremiah is speaking of is an internal one. He was determined to stop prophesising and not even to think of the Lord any more. But a fire continued to burn within him that he could not contain. The violent tension that exists within Jeremiah is the tension between the wonderful spirit that the Lord has given and the desire to protect himself, to defend his own comfort and wellbeing. This internal struggle exists within each of us and is the theme of the Gospel.

Peter wants to arrive at the goal of Jesus’ mission without undertaking the necessary journey

Jesus has a wonderful mission to accomplish, the opening of the door to the Kingdom of Heaven for all people. He must do so by undergoing the worst fate of the prophets: rejection by the priests and elders, a cruel execution before his resurrection on the third day. It is the final goal of his mission that is most important and which makes the rest comprehensible. The goal is wonderful but the journey to the goal is terrible. Peter intervenes to assert that this terrible journey must not be undertaken. In reply, Jesus says: “Get behind me Satan!” A short time earlier (as we read in last Sunday’s Gospel), Jesus had made Peter the rock on which the Church is built, but now he calls him Satan! But there is no-one in the world who does not have to undergo the internal struggle of Jeremiah. Each of us wishes to flee and each of us has to discover the internal strength of obedience. We all long for comfort, wellbeing, self-preservation, the absence of suffering. Self-preservation is a natural aspiration. But this inclination must be superseded by something else. “If anyone wishes to follow me, then he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” There is a part of ourselves that we must renounce. There is within me a life that is small. The Lord wishes to replace that with a life that is greater, the life of the child of God. The old life was that of Simon, son of John, the life of flesh and blood, as we saw in last Sunday’s Gospel. The new life is the life of Peter. The new name given to Peter signifies a new existence that is born of a different Father. This new life comes from the Easter mystery, a mystery that is forever incomprehensible to our way of thinking.

To become children of God we must embrace the life of the Kingdom of Heaven. This requires renouncing the smaller life that each of us is so willing to preserve. To live the life of the child of God is to live for others, and this requires the painful element of renouncing the preoccupation with our own life

The Lord forms us through suffering and pain. There are also many beautiful things in life that lift us up and give us consolation. But there is an element of purification in life that is indispensable. This transforms our being and makes us children of God. This internal struggle of the cross is something that plays itself out within us. In the end there are two types of people: the ones who preserve themselves, and those who open themselves in faith; the one who defends his own life, and the one who embraces life in Christ. If we opt for preserving our own life, then we opt for a life that is finite, delusory, mediocre. When, by contrast, we opt for the life of Christ, then we opt for the Kingdom of Heaven, we opt for a life that is stable, solid, authentic.

Love is impossible without self-renunciation. The cost of love is undeniable, but the prize of eternal life makes that cost worthwhile

Love is the most important thing in the world. Is it possible to love if we do not know how to renounce our own selves? How can a man love a woman for his entire life if he is not capable of saying no to his own egoism? How can we love a child, a friend, or the Church if self-preservation is our first priority? We must frequently put others first, choosing the Kingdom of heaven, choosing to lose our own life in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who can transform death into life. The struggle of Jeremiah is our struggle! It is well worthwhile to say yes to God! This yes has a cost associated with it, but it is a cost that is small when compared to what God gives us in exchange for it – eternal life.

August 24^th 2014. TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL:                                  Matthew 16:13-20

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’
And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’.
‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’

Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God’.
Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man!
Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven;
whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’

Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The first reading speaks of a man who is removed from his office and replaced by another. The new man will be given the key to the House of David, a key that must be borne upon the shoulders. What kind of key could that be? In the Gospel, Simon professes his faith in Jesus and in return Jesus changes his name to Cephas, meaning rock. The Jewish high priest at that time had a variation of the same name, Caiaphas. We could think of this event as the removal of Caiaphas from his office and his replacement by Peter. Caiaphas was the one who denied the identity of Jesus. Peter was the one who confessed his faith in Jesus. Caiaphas was the one who put Jesus on the cross. Peter was the one who eventually took up the cross of Jesus. The cross of Jesus is the key to the Kingdom of Heaven. Once we take up the cross, then we become capable of acts that are ratified in heaven. The Lord opens doors for us and closes other paths. In our stubbornness we pursue paths and self-centred projects that the Lord has closed. Let us take this key to the Kingdom upon our shoulders! Let us, like Peter, follow Jesus fully and accomplish acts that are bound in heaven!

The First Reading gives us new insight into the Gospel passage

On this occasion we will read the celebrated text from St Matthew’s Gospel in the light of the first reading from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah tells us how the master of the palace, Shebna, is to be removed from his office. The master of the palace is no ordinary servant but the most important figure in the entire administration of the household. Shebna is to be removed from his position and replaced by the servant Eliakim. There are a number of things in the Gospel passage from Matthew that can be appreciated more clearly when it is read in the light of the reading from Isaiah.

The difference between Caiaphas and Cephas: Caiaphas speaks according to flesh and blood; Cephas speaks according to the Father

Peter makes his profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ and in return Jesus changes his name: “You were Simon the son of Jonah, but from now on you will be called Peter.” The name “Peter” means “rock” and in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, the word is Cephas. At that time the Jewish high priest was called Caiaphas, a name that has the exact same meaning. It is as Jesus is removing the Jewish high priest from office and giving his position to Peter, just as happened to the master of the palace in the first reading. In fact, Caiaphas refuses to recognize Jesus for who he is, whilst Peter’s profession of faith results in him being made the high priest of the new church that is to be built upon him. “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.” If Peter had spoken according to the flesh, then he would have spoken in the same way that Caiaphas had spoken of Jesus. Peter, instead, was speaking according to a wisdom that the Father had given him.

What sort of key is borne upon the shoulders?

In the first reading, the new master of the palace will become a father for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He will have on his shoulders the key of the House of David. What is this key that will be laid upon the shoulders? The Gospel also speaks of a key that will be given to Peter – a key that binds in heaven whatever the Church binds on earth. But what sort of key needs to be carried on the shoulders? Not even the keys of the gates of a city would have been that heavy! Over the coming Sundays, Jesus will say that whoever wishes to be his disciple must take up his cross and follow him. In other words this is the key that must be carried upon the shoulders. Whilst Caiaphas puts Jesus on the Cross, Peter eventually learns to carry the Cross of Jesus, the cross that looses and binds. This is the key that permits Peter to carry out acts that will be replicated in heaven. Peter, in other words, will act in a way that reflects heaven. The sacrament of matrimony is a sacrament that binds in a heavenly way, not a mere earthly relationship. The sacrament of reconciliation frees from sin in a way that has eternal, heavenly validity. The church that will be built upon Peter will have the power to accomplish heavenly acts. That which we celebrate in the sacraments, that which is hidden in the life of the church and appears to be merely flesh and blood, is really being guided powerfully by the Father. The Church often has a weak, fragile and compromised appearance, but the Lord never stops working at the heart of things; the Lord never stops transforming the Church into the New Temple where God manifests himself.

How do we accept the key of the Kingdom of Heaven? The key is the cross and we must accept it by following Jesus completely. Once we do so, then we begin to accomplish heavenly acts that are reflected in heaven. We follow paths that the Lord has opened and avoid wasting time pursuing paths that the Lord has closed

We are called to accept this key. Jesus does not give the key immediately to Peter: “I will give you the key”. When will this happen? Peter will receive the key when he assumes upon himself completely the shame of Christ, when he has upon his shoulders the cross of Jesus. As St Paul says, when we take the cross upon our shoulders, we complete in our flesh that which is lacking in the cross of Christ. In other words we manifest another portion of the redemption that must be made present in every new generation. We bear the key of redemption upon our shoulders and with that key we are given the power to open the way to others. Believers see the love of God manifested in the cross of Jesus and come to know how to open and how to close the things that are essential. They learn how to forgive completely, how to accomplish heavenly acts. In the text from Isaiah, God tells Eliakim (who will have this wonderful key upon his shoulders) that whatever he opens no-one will close, and whatever he closes no-one will open. It is important to understand that the things of God are the things of God. Once God closes something, then that thing is closed. Once God opens the way, then that way is definitively opened. The wisdom of God is something that must be conformed with. How often we resist history! How often we fight against things that are closed to us! How often we put our narrow projects and plans in central place, seeking to manage the household in our own way, as Shebna in the first reading. We make ourselves masters of the palace, taking upon ourselves the task of saying what is open and what is closed. But this is mistaken. What we must do is seek to recognize what has been opened and closed by God. Sometimes good discernment requires being able to appreciate which paths in our lives are open, that which is grace-filled, that which has been placed into our hands by God. Good discernment requires avoiding roads that God has closed. We in our stubbornness waste an enormous amount of precious time pursuing useless paths that have not been opened by the Lord. Let us try to be attentive to the grace of God! What he opens will not be closed by anyone, and what he opens will never be closed. This is not fatalism but a correct evaluation of the life that the Lord has given us. The Lord places on our shoulders the key of the House of David. With this key – the Cross- he will open the Kingdom of Heaven.

August 17^th 2014. TWENTIETH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL:                                  Matthew 15:21-28

Jesus left Genesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel’. But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs’. She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table’. Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . There was a historical divide between Israel and the people of Canaan. The people of Israel drove the Canaanites out of the Promised Land. This was a people who had been excluded from salvation in the Old Testament. The Canaanite woman in the Gospel ought not even to speak with Jesus, but she approaches him, accepts him as Lord and calls him by the Messianic title “Son of David”. What causes her to break down the barriers and seek salvation in this way? Her experience of suffering leads her to forget all of the pretence and illusion that fills her life. As a result, she approaches with humility the table of the Lord.

            Our lives are full of pretensions and self-delusion. We do not recognize the depth of our problems and we do not realize our desperate need to eat even the scraps that fall from Jesus’ table. Sometimes it is only suffering and despair that prompt us to approach the Lord in the correct manner. Jesus’ attitude seems harsh in the Gospel, but he leads the woman to approach him in a spirit of absolute humility, recognizing that only he can give life and offer salvation. Let us lower ourselves to the ground as this wise woman of Canaan has done! Let us approach the table of the Lord with humility and expectation, in the knowledge that even the scraps from that table can bring us salvation.

The first reading tells us that those who were once excluded will one day enter the house of God. The Gospel presents us with a Canaanite woman, the very people who were driven by Israel from the Promised Land.

In the first reading the Prophet Isaiah proclaims the unheard-of news that the pagans, those who were once excluded from salvation, will one day become the servants of God. The house of God will be called a house of prayer for all peoples. In the Gospel for Sunday, we have the figure of a Canaanite woman. The Canaanite in the Old Testament was the enemy, the one who occupied the Promised Land. In order to enter this territory, the people of Israel had to wage war with the Canaanites and cast them out. What causes a woman from this cast-off people to approach Jesus?

Jesus has been rejected by his own people and has gone to a people who were once excluded from salvation

The Canaanite woman in the Gospel has a daughter who is tormented by a demon. Jesus has gone to the area of Tyre and Sidon because he has been rejected by his own people and by the Scribes and Pharisees. Even though the woman is a Canaanite and has a demon in her house, she still addresses Jesus as Lord and calls him Son of David. The use of the title “Son of David” indicates that she recognizes him as the Messiah.

We erect a barrier between ourselves and salvation because we don’t realize the depth of our problems and think we can solve them on our own. The suffering of the Canaanite woman helps to bring down this barrier

This woman is a mother but she is unable to fulfil her role as mother. Her daughter has a demon and she can do nothing to help her. We leave God on the threshold of our lives because we are convinced that we can manage by ourselves. We believe that everything is going on fine. Our problems are not that serious or frightening. The Canaanite woman, however, finds herself in a situation of great suffering. The demon that possesses her daughter threatens to destroy her. The mother is close to despair and it is this that tears down the barrier between herself and Jesus. Given the historical differences, she should not even speak to someone like Jesus, but her suffering eliminates the differences and she approaches him boldly.

Jesus seems harsh, but his harshness is a strategy that challenges the woman to seek salvation in the correct manner

Jesus responds in a negative manner. She cries out but he doesn’t say even a word. The disciples seem to have more compassion than Jesus in this situation! His eventual reply is harsh: ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel’. Does this means that there is no space in the house of God for this lady? As we shall see, the space is there, and it is of a very definite sort, but the woman must seek the place out herself. She prostrates herself before Jesus, an act in which she recognizes that there is something sublime and divine in this man from Israel. But Jesus continues to be difficult. “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs”, he says. The woman replies, “Yes, that’s true”. And it is true! There are things that the person who is alienated from salvation cannot receive. But this woman is determined to find a place for herself inside salvation and she retorts: “Even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table”.

Jesus expects us to find our own place at the master’s table. Often it is the experience of suffering and despair that teaches us to approach the table in a correct manner

Jesus had gone to the area of Tyre and Sidon for the very reason that he had been turned away by the children of Israel. In spite of having experienced the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the children of the Kingdom didn’t really want to eat what Jesus was truly offering. The Scribes and Pharisees had refused to partake of this bread from the master’s table and so the scraps fell to those who had previously been excluded. The Canaanite woman places herself there, in the gap left by the incredulity of the people of God. She says, “I will take these scraps if they don’t want them. If the sons don’t eat, then maybe the dogs can”. With this humble attitude, the woman finds her place in the order of salvation, a task that the Lord leaves to us to accomplish for ourselves. The experience of suffering led the woman to approach the Lord in humility and that is how it should be with us. Suffering can help us to rid us of certain stupid modes of reasoning and arrogant attitudes about ourselves. Sometimes our prayer begins in a pretentious way, but over time and with the experience of suffering this prayer can become a more honest form of supplication. Eventually, supplication is not enough and we learn to pray in a truly humble way as the Canaanite woman has done. She eventually said, “I am but a dog and you can treat me like a dog, but do not deprive me of your life-giving food. I need the life that only you can give”. Once we realize that only Christ can give us life, that only he has real bread, then we begin to dismantle the illusions and pretence that fills our lives.

The door to salvation is small, and we must become smaller and more humble if we wish to enter it

Which is the greater thing, the healing of the daughter with the demon, or the fact that the mother receives salvation? I would say without hesitation that the second thing is the most important. Sometimes we have genuine problems that cause us anguish, but the most essential thing is to find a place at the table of the Lord, in other words, to enter into relationship with him. Often the door is very small and narrow, but we must not complain about the size of the door because it is this fact that helps us to become smaller. We must be razed to the ground so that we see everything in its proper perspective, the perspective of one who needs to receive, not the one who has pretensions about what he can give.

August 10^th 2014. Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

_______________________________________________________________

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

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.’ lt 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’.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the first reading Elijah is running away from oppression. When he arrives at Horeb, he is challenged to recognize the presence of God. But he cannot find God  in the frightening things of this world – wind, earthquake and fire. Instead Elijah finds the Lord in a gentle breeze. After all the talking and complaining from Elijah, he discovers the Lord when he (Elijah) is finally silent. The Gospel from Matthew recounts the story of Jesus walking on water during the storm. Peter tries to walk on water as well, but he becomes afraid when he hears the wind and he sinks. All of us have storms in our lives. Like Elijah and Peter, our fear makes us focus on these storms, earthquakes and fires. We approach these problems of our lives in a fearful way, seeking to solve them with our own talents and capacities. But we have no innate capacity to walk on water! It is only when we seek the Lord in the silent breeze, when we have intimacy with the Father, as Jesus had through his constant prayer, only then we discover the true meaning of our existence. This relationship with the Lord drives out fear and we attain the capacity to walk over the things that once made us sink. Elijah discovered the Lord in the invisible, whilst he could not find the Lord in the visible dramatic events of the world. For as long as our focus is on visible things, we will fail to enter into an authentic relationship with the Lord.

Sometimes God creates circumstances that we find uncomfortable, but he does this in order to give us great things that we would not otherwise receive

Sunday’s Gospel recounts the story of Jesus walking on the water. It begins with a curious phrase: “Jesus made the disciples get into the boat . . . ” while he himself went into the hills to pray. Why did Jesus constrain the disciples to get into the boat? There are various aspects to this. First of all, there was something he wanted them to experience. Often God prepares great things for us but we stubbornly resist entering into the situations where we can receive these things. The Lord must create the circumstances that constrain us to experience these things. Another aspect to this Gospel story is the fact that there is a great difference between the disciples and Jesus: he needed to send them apart so that he could have the opportunity to pray.

Sometimes when we are afraid we call on Jesus, but the Jesus we call on is little more than a ghost, a consoling idea that we do not really believe in or commit ourselves to

The disciples find themselves many miles from land in the midst of a great storm. Then they see Jesus coming to them on the waves. They ask themselves, “Is it a ghost?” Often we reduce Jesus to a ghost, to a theory, to a hypothesis that consoles us but that we do not really believe. Jesus replies, “It is me, not a ghost. Do not be afraid!” Jesus commands us to face the fundamental enemy of humanity which is fear. Fear encloses us inside our little boats, and closed in these boats we try to get through the storms of our lives.

We give excessive importance to visible things, to the storms, earthquakes and fires that make us fearful. We must stop focusing on these things and instead listen for God in silence, in the gentle breeze. It is only when we open ourselves to the invisible that we will discover the genuine meaning of things and be finally freed from fear

Peter asks to be allowed to come to Jesus on the water. Jesus tells him to come but Peter is made fearful by the wind and starts to sink. “Save me Lord!” he says. Jesus takes him by the hand and says, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?” Events of this sort are a call to each of us to make a step forward in the faith. In the first reading, Elijah is running away from a situation of oppression. He walks for forty days and forty nights until he reaches Horeb, the place where Moses encountered God. Elijah is to be the second person to encounter God here, but the challenge is to recognize the Lord when he makes himself present. First there is the whirlwind, then there is the earthquake and finally there is fire. But God is not present in any of them. The Lord shows his presence to Elijah in the gentle breeze. The Hebrew original of this text is difficult to translate well. The word for gentle breeze is really the word, “Shhhh”, which is the word used when we ask for silence. Elijah has been doing a lot of talking and a lot of complaining. The Lord is saying to him, “You must go beyond talking, you must go beyond wind, earthquake and fire.” In the same way Peter walks on the water but is called to go beyond the wind that makes him fearful. Our problem is that the Lord is beyond visible things; he is beyond the things of this world. But we absolutize the fears we have about the things in this world; we give excessive importance to physical, visible things. Until we open ourselves to the invisible, we cannot encounter that which gives genuine meaning to our existence.

Our lives are a biblical storm. Let us stop running from this storm and seek the Lord in silence

The biblical “storm” is present in many aspects of our lives. The flee from reality that Elijah succumbed to is something that is true for many of us. And we need to stop running, see beyond the storm and contemplate the presence of God in silence. Like Elijah, this encounter will strengthen us to face up to reality and complete our mission. Our lives can involve relational storms, economic storms, storms in the workplace. What we need to do in the midst of these storms is to look beyond. None of us will succeed in encountering real life if we cling to much to the little things of life. We must open our hearts to that which is greater. God has a wonderful plan for me. To bring this plan to fruition, he must constrain me to enter into things that I do not like. In this way I learn to be silent before the Lord. Sometimes we are asked to enter into things that are frightening and difficult so that we will experience the power of God, experience his resurrection.

We sink in the water with Peter because our starting point in life is our own capacities. And we have no innate capacity to walk on water! When our starting point of life is rooted in intimacy with the Father, then we are freed from fear and attain the capacity to walk above the things that once made us fearful

Often we allow ourselves to be moved only by storms, earthquakes and fire. In this way we limit our lives to things that ultimately are small, trivial and self-centered. We need to open ourselves to something greater, to a wise plan for us that is hidden in the crosses of our lives, hidden in the storms. There is a man, Christ, who walks on water. Why does he walk on water? Because he comes from that silence that Elijah discovers. Jesus comes from that intimacy with the Father that is demonstrated by his commitment to prayer. Why do I sink in the water whilst Jesus walks on it? Because I begin from myself, my own limited capacities, whilst Jesus takes his point of reference from the Father. When I am confronted by a storm and I try to rely on my own capacities, then the only thing I am sure to do is sink. However, when I confront difficult situations from the standpoint of someone who is intimate with the Father, someone whose life is filled with the silent breeze of the presence of God, these things no longer frighten me. Then I can walk above these things. I can have a freedom from the physical worries of this world and be truly free.