The God of Calmness:
The Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2026
August 9, 2026
www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com
predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673
1 Kings 19:11-13; Psalm 85; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33
Where do we look for God versus where do we find God? In the story about Elijah, we find the prophet in the cave expecting to see God pass by. It is not in the big, clamorous events. It was not in God speaking clearly and directly. It was not the appearance of a powerfully strong God who acts mightily. God appeared in the stillness that followed the silence. In the Gospel, we also see that the presence of God is one of stillness and silence. It is not in the swirling winds or thunder or lightning. God’s presence in the person of Jesus provides calm.
Why is this important? Many times, a person will speak with me because they are uncertain that God hears them. They have been good, obedient, and respectful to God, but God does not seem to be answering them. There are many possible directions for the person to go, and they want to be kind and dutiful. They say something like, “I wish God would simply tell me plainly and directly what I should do. I want to know God’s will. Why cannot God be clear with me?” Well, my friends, this is not how God works with most of us.
God voice can be heard clearly and distinctly, and it is often found in the quiet silence or the stillness. God may be very active in your consciousness, and perhaps you have to listen in a different manner. Jesus shows us that he offers calm and a steady hand in the midst of severely swirling storms, and he still says, “Come. I want you to be with me. Take my hand. You’ll find what you need with me.” In the storms of our lives, we can be beset by so many competing, discordant voices and we do not know to which voice we should listen, but we can train ourselves to detect the quiet movements of the voice of Jesus.
He often works through gentle invitations given by our friends or associates. It can be a quality of welcome, a tone of voice, an assurance offered by a stranger, but it is unmistakably from Jesus. He is the one who extends the hands of calmness and stillness. So, when we are confused or bombarded by thoughts or in distress, that is not the time to pray. It is the time to sit down and breathe. It is the time to get ourselves centered so we find ourselves at the edge of the cave like Elijah or like Peter clutching the hand of Jesus. We have to center ourselves with the breath before entering prayer. When we are distressed, anxious, or angry, we are not free. We cannot pray. When we settle ourselves and let the breath calm our unruly thoughts, then we touch our freedom and we can pray. We have to get into the practice of breathing daily when we are not in distress so we build a routine of centering ourselves.
We learn to see with our eyes and our other senses, and we begin to detect when and where the Risen Jesus is present to us. This voice becomes clear and distinct and trustworthy, and we can hear it no matter how ferocious those winds are. This voice is always calm, welcoming, and supportive. His voice guides us to make the right choices in confidence. If we breathe, and allow us to be seen by Jesus, we can do anything, and we can find that calmness. He says, “Experience and use your courage. Do not be afraid. I want you to know me. I want you to come. I offer you invitations. Come. I want your partnership and your friendship. I am your God.”
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (2 Corinthians 9) Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Tuesday: (Ezekiel 2) The Lord GOD said to me: As for you, son of man, obey me when I speak to you: be not rebellious like this house of rebellion, but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you.
Wednesday: (Ezekiel 9) Come, you scourges of the city! With that I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a writer’s case at his waist.
Thursday (Ezekiel 12) Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.
Friday (Ezekiel 16) Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations. Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: By origin and birth you are of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
Saturday (1 Chronicles 15) They brought in the ark of God and set it within the tent which David had pitched for it. Then they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. When David had finished offering up the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
Gospel:
Monday: (John 12) Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Tuesday: (Matthew 18) “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.”
Wednesday (Matthew 18) If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Thursday (Matthew 18) Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
Friday (Matthew 19) They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
Saturday (Luke 11) “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
Saints of the Week
August 9: Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), martyr (1891-1942), became a Catholic convert from Judaism after reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila. He earned a doctorate in philosophy but was unemployable because she was a woman. She taught at a high school for eight years before entering the Carmelites in 1933 where she made final vows in 1938. She moved to Holland to escape persecution by the Nazis, but was arrested when the bishops spoke out against the persecution of the Jews.
August 10: Lawrence, deacon and martyr (d. 258) was martyred four days after Pope Sixtus II and six other deacons during the Valerian persecution. A beautiful story is told about Lawrence's words. When asked to surrender the church's treasure, Lawrence gathered the poor and presented them to the civil authorities. For this affront, he was martyred. He is the patron of Rome.
August 11: Clare, founder (1193-1253), was inspired by Francis of Assist so much that she fled her home for his community to receive the Franciscan habit on Passion Sunday 1212. She lived in a nearby Benedictine convent until she was made superior of a new community in San Damiano. She practiced radical poverty by wearing no shoes, sleeping on the ground, and giving up meat.
August 12: Jane Frances de Chantal, religious (1572-1641), founded the Congregation of the Visitation with her spiritual advisor, Francis de Sales. This congregation was for women who wanted to live in religious life, but without the austerity of the other orders. Jane was married to a Baron with whom she had six children and she sought religious answers to her suffering. Her order established eighty-five convents dedicated to serving the poor before she died.
August 13: Pontian, pope and martyr and Hippolytus, priest and martyr (d.236). Pontian's papacy was interrupted by a persecution when the Roman Emperor Maximinus arrested him and his rival, Hippolytus, and banished them to Sardinia. Pontian resigned so another pope could succeed him. Hippolytus, who formed a schismatic group and claimed to be the real pope, reconciled with the church before he and Pontian were martyred.
August 14: Maximilian Kolbe, priest and martyr (1894-1941), was born in Russian-occupied Poland. He entered the Franciscans in 1910 and preached the gospel with his devotion to Mary in Poland and Japan. When the Nazis conquered Poland in 1939, he ministered to thousands of refugees. He was arrested, sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. When a prisoner escaped and retaliation was sought, Kolbe offered himself to replace one of the ten randomly chosen men to be executed.
August 15: The Assumption of Mary is the principal feast of Mary with her Queenship celebrated at the end of the octave. This feast celebrates that she was taken up to heaven, body and soul, at the end of her earthly life. The Council of Ephesus in 431 proclaimed her Mother of God and devotion of her dormition followed afterwards.
This Week in Jesuit History
- August 9, 1762. The moving of the English College from St Omers to Liege.
- August 10, 1622. Blessed Augustine Ota, a Japanese brother, was beheaded for the faith. He had been baptized by Blessed Camillus Costanzi on the eve of the latter's martyrdom.
- August 11, 1846. The death of Benedict Joseph Fenwick. He was the second bishop of Boston, twice the president of Georgetown, and the founder of the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.
- August 12, 1877. The death of Fr. Maurice Gailland. He was an expert in languages and spent many years at St Mary's Mission in Kansas. He wrote a 450.page dictionary and grammar of the Potawatomi language.
- August 13, 1621. The death in Rome of St John Berchmans. He died while still in studies, preparing for a public disputation.
- August 14, 1812. Napoleon I and his army arrived at Polosk, in White Russia. They plunder the property of the Society and violate the tombs of the Generals.
- August 15, 1821. Fr. Peter DeSmet sailed from Amsterdam to America. He hoped to work among the Native Americans. He became the best known missionary of the northwest portion of the United States.
