Catechism Links [1]
CCC 164: Faith experiences testing
CCC 272-274: Only faith can follow
mysterious ways of providence
CCC 671-672: In difficult times,
cultivate trust that all is subject to Christ
CCC 56-64, 121-122, 218-219: History
of covenants; God’s love for Israel
CCC 839-840: The Church’s relationship
to the Jewish people
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a
At
the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah
came to a cave where he took shelter.
Then
the Lord said to him,
“Go
outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord;
the
Lord will be passing by.”
A
strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and
crushing rocks before the Lord —
but
the Lord was not in the wind.
After
the wind there was an earthquake—
but
the Lord was not in the earthquake.
After
the earthquake there was fire—
but
the Lord was not in the fire.
After
the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When
he heard this,
Elijah
hid his face in his cloak
and
went and stood at the entrance of the cave.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary
on 1 Kgs 19:9a:11-13a
Jezebel
has challenged (“Where is the Prince?” against his name “Yahweh is my God.” 1 Kings 19:1-8) [5]
Elijah and he has fled to Mt. Horeb. This passage describes God’s response to
Elijah’s need for divine presence. “Compare these divine manifestations to
Elijah with those to Moses (Exodus 19:1-23; 33:21-23; 34:5) on the
same Mount Horeb (Sinai) (Deuteronomy 4:10-15). Though
various phenomena, such as wind, storms, earthquakes, fire (Exodus 19:18-19), herald
the divine presence, they do not constitute the presence itself which, like the
tiny whispering sound, is imperceptible and bespeaks the spirituality of God.
It was fitting that Elijah, whose mission it was to re-establish the covenant
and restore the pure faith, should have returned to Horeb where the covenant
was revealed to Moses and through him to the Israelite people (Exodus 3:1-4, 17; 33:18-34:9). Moses
and Elijah appeared with Christ at the time of his transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:1-7; Luke 9:28-36).” [6]
CCC: 1
Kgs 19:1-14 2583; 1 Kgs 19:5 332
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial
Psalm: Psalm
85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. (8) Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant
us your salvation.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the Lord — for he proclaims peace.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Lord, let us
see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Lord, let us
see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
The Lord himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and prepare the way of his steps.
R. Lord, let us
see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
Psalm
85 is a communal lament that focuses on the woes of the nation. These strophes
reflect the joy of salvation at the restoration of the land following the
destruction of the temple and the Diaspora. Those faithful to God see the
reward: a land restored, justice returned, and the salvation of God. When used
in the context of the Advent season, the theme of preparation for a time of
peace is announced. It is a clear tie to the herald of the Messiah, echoing
Isaiah’s oracle (Isaiah
40:1-5, 9-11).
CCC:
Ps 85:11 214; Ps
85:12 2795
-------------------------------------------
Reading II: Romans 9:1-5
Brothers
and sisters:
I
speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie;
my
conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness
that
I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart.
For
I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for
the sake of my own people,
my
kindred according to the flesh.
They
are Israelites;
theirs
the adoption, the glory, the covenants,
the
giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;
theirs
the patriarchs, and from them,
according
to the flesh, is the Christ,
who
is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary
on Rom 9:1-5
In
this passage St. Paul borrows from the passion of Moses for the people of God
in Exodus
32:32 when Moses says: "Now if you would only forgive
their sin! But if you will not, then blot me out of the book that you have
written.” The apostle is using oratorical exaggeration and contradicting
himself (see Romans cf.
8:31ff) when he wishes himself accursed. He is once more
expressing his love of the mission God has given him in converting all
non-believers to Christ.[7]
“The
apostle speaks in strong terms of the depth of his grief over the unbelief of
his own people. He would willingly undergo a curse himself for the sake of
their coming to the knowledge of Christ (Romans 9:3; cf. Leviticus 27:28-29). His love
for them derives from God's continuing choice of them and from the spiritual
benefits that God bestows on them and through them on all of humanity.”[8]
CCC: Rom 9:4-5 839; Rom 9:5 449
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33
After
he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and
precede him to the other side,
while
he dismissed the crowds.
After
doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When
it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile
the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was
being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During
the fourth watch of the night,
he
came toward them walking on the sea.
When
the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
“It
is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At
once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter
said to him in reply,
“Lord,
if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He
said, “Come.”
Peter
got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But
when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and,
beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately
Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,
and
said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After
they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those
who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly,
you are the Son of God.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary
on Mt 14:22-33
This
passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel follows the feeding of the five thousand. The
disciples return to the boat that brought them to this remote site while Jesus
stays alone to pray (recall he had just gotten word of the murder of St. John
the Baptist by Herod and had come to this place to mourn him).
The
Lord is overcome by both grief at the news of the death of St. John the Baptist
(Matthew 14:13) and compassion
for the crowd he had just fed. He goes off alone to pray. “The contemplation of
the Father, impossible without a movement that first leads inwardly and
separates from all that is not God, necessarily bears fruit in the
contemplation of one’s brethren: we come to see others as God sees them.” [9]
The
events that follow, specifically Jesus' approach to the boat
and walking on the water, support the Lord’s earlier demonstration that he
has power over the sea and elements (see Matthew 8:26). St.
Peter’s response to the Lord is to try to do as the Lord wishes, but his fear
prevents him from accomplishing what the Lord has called him to do. This entire
episode has one purpose – to allow the readers to share in the awe of the
disciples as they make their profession of faith: “Truly, you are the Son of
God." This account stands in stark contrast to St. Mark’s account of
their response (see Mark
6:51).
CCC:
Mt 14:30 448
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We
once more have an embarrassment of riches in Sacred Scripture. In the first
reading from 1st Kings, we could reflect upon where we look for God.
We could ask the question: do we seek God’s help in ways that would be
spectacular like the feeding of the five thousand? Or do we meditate upon the
ways he has shaped our path in subtle ways, visible only after time has
revealed his fingerprints on our lives?
We
could also continue to contemplate our own depth of faith. We have been
challenged by the Lord to attempt even walking on water, as St. Peter tried to
do in the Gospel story. We were told in the parable of the mustard seed that,
if we had that minuscule absolute faith, we could move mountains. Peter’s
failure shows us that we too are imperfect, but we can be God’s instruments,
nonetheless.
Today,
however, we hear the anguished words of St. Paul as he cries that his own
people, the Israelites, have cut themselves off from life by rejecting Christ.
We admire his zeal for the Lord, that he is so fervently convinced in the
salvation Jesus brings that it causes him mental pain - pain because those he
also loves cannot accept the Savior as the fulfillment of all they had been
promised.
If
we had St. Paul’s level of intense love and faith in Jesus, we would express
the same kind of prayer about the people close to us who have rejected faith.
It would feel as if they had rejected the only cure to a fatal illness (which
it is in a very real sense). We would do all we could to convince them that
what they were giving up was so important that their very rejection of it was
causing us emotional distress. We see this level of distress in the tears of
St. Monica as she prayed for her son who would later be known as St. Augustine.
This
short reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds us how important it
is that we keep reaching out to those who have rejected faith, most especially
the agnostic and the atheist. Their formal rejection of God and his Son has
doomed them to give up peace in this life and eternal bliss in the next. It is
never too late, though. We can continue to extend the offer of faith to them,
just as Jesus reached out and rescued St. Peter.
Pax
In other years on August 13th:
Memorial of Saint Pontian, Pope
and Martyr and Saint Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture used today is “God Passes By” artist and date are unknown.
[3]
S.S. Commemoratio[4]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the
psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[5]
Simon J. DeVries, 1 Kings, 2nd ed., vol. 12, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas:
Word, Inc, 2003), 235.
[6]
NAB footnote on 1 Kings: 19:11-13.
[7]
The
Navarre Bible: “Letters
of St. Paul”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p.106.
[8]
NAB footnote on Romans 9:1-5.
[9]
Leiva, Erasmo. Fire Of Mercy Vol. 2 (Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word).
Ignatius Press pp. 357-358.
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