The wind died down: The 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

                                                           The wind died down:

The 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

August 13, 2023

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1 Kings 19:-13; Psalm 85; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33

 

There is an event in each of these readings that has similarities. In each case, the wind dies down. The famous scene of Elijah taking shelter from the storm and looking for God, but only finding God in the silence that follows the stillness. The Gospel scene has Peter and Jesus getting into the boat after walking on the water during the storm and the wind dies down. We are always looking for God during our turmoil, and we expect God to speak clearly and loudly to us so that we know God’s will, but these passages convey that God does not connect with us in that way. From this, we can infer that Jesus calls to us within the turbulence, and because of our faith and doubt, he can cause the winds to die down.

 

The voice of God is silent, constant, and personalized for each believer. It is not easy to hear God’s voice unless you train yourself to experience it in your prayerful ways. Once you become familiar with it, you can hear it among the cacophony and the many competing voices. It remains constant. The voice of Christ is the one who says, “Do not fear. Don’t be afraid. Have courage.” He lets us know that doubt is okay because doubt is an expression of faith. Doubt means that we have not yet accepted every part of the faith, and we still must appropriate aspects of the faith in order for it to be relevant and meaningful. It is a sign of maturity and wisdom to doubt and to ask questions. It is quite fine to doubt because it tells us that you are still growing in awareness and knowledge. We have to remind ourselves that fear is not faith. It is a lack of having trusting experiences. Faith brings us to a balance where we can make better decisions based upon our relationship with Jesus.

 

          As Christians, we have a responsibility to help others who are lost in moments of doubt, abandonment, or suffering. We cannot expect that we will have flawless faith, we can use our doubt to see, touch, and confront the wounds in the hearts of our neighbors. Our doubt has great value and use. When we see the wounds within humanity, we see God and we learn what God wants from us. It is important for us to discover that we get the clearest vision of God by confronting suffering rather than turning away from it. No one likes pain and we do whatever we can to relieve it, but we have to be careful that we do not deny it. We first have to see the pain, the suffering, and the poverty of our world and to touch those wounds with faith and action. Prayer is only effective if we act upon what we bring to prayer.

 

          It is these expressions of love and service that restore our hope and the courage to live fully. It is through these actions that our holiness is revealed. These actions help us reveal our wounds so that healing can begin, and we do it with the wounded Christ, the one who knows human suffering all too well. When Peter stepped out of the boat, he came face to face with Christ and knew he had to depend upon him. We are called to step forth into the arms of this wounded Christ to hear his voice and to take his hand, to grasp the hand that suffers, and to hear him urge us, “Have Courage. I will never let go.”

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

Monday: (Deuteronomy 10) And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of you but to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly, to love and serve the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD which I enjoin on you today for your own good?

 

Tuesday: (Revelation 11) God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

 

Wednesday: (Deuteronomy 34) Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land—Gilead, and as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh,
all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea.

 

Thursday: (Joshua 3) The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know I am with you, as I was with Moses. Now command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to come to a halt in the Jordan
when you reach the edge of the waters."

 

Friday (Joshua 24) But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous, and gave him Isaac. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned the mountain region of Seir in which to settle, while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

 

Saturday (Joshua 24) "Fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve,
the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Matthew 17) "Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?" "Yes," he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, "What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?

 

Tuesday: (Luke 1) Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb.

 

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) "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) "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?" He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?

 

Saturday (Matthew 19) "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

 

Saints of the Week

 

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. 

 

August 16: Stephen of Hungary (975-1038) tried to unite the Magyar families and was able to establish the church in Hungary through Pope Sylvester II's support. Rome crowed Stephen as the first king in 1001 and he instituted many reforms in religious and civil practices. He built churches and trained local clergy.

 

August 18: Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, S.J., priest (1901-1952), was a Chilean Jesuit priest, lawyer, writer and social worker who was born in the Basque region in Spain. He established Hogar de Cristo, that housed at-risk children, whether orphaned or not, and provided them food and shelter. Hurtado also supported the rise of labor union and labor rights in Chile.

 

August 19: John Eudes, priest (1601-1680) preached missions, heard confessions, and assisted the sick and dying. He founded a new religious order for women, which includes Our Lady of Charity and the Good Shepherd Sisters. He eventually left the Oratorians to found the Congregation of Jesus and Mary.  

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• 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. 
• August 15, 1955: The Wisconsin Province was formed from the Missouri Province and the Detroit Province was formed from the Chicago province. 
• August 16, 1649: At Drogheda, Cromwell's soldiers shot Fr. John Bath and his brother, a secular priest, in the marketplace. 
• August 17, 1823: Fr. Van Quickenborne and a small band of missionaries descended the Missouri River to evangelize the Indians at the request of the bishop of St. Louis. On this date in 1829, the College of St. Louis opened. 
• August 18, 1952: The death of Alberto Hurtado, writer, retreat director, trade unionist and founder of "El Hogar de Christo," a movement to help the homeless in Chile. 
• August 19, 1846: At Melgar, near Burgos, the birth of Fr. Luis Martin, 24th General of the Society.