The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
This homily was given during a special appeal to the support the mission of the Salvatorian priests and brothers in Tanzania at Holy Spirit Parish in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, on the weekend of August 12-13, 2023.
There are stories from Scripture that we know very well, and I think that can certainly be said of the First Reading and the Gospel we hear this Sunday. But the danger in knowing a story so well is that it’s easy to stop listening. We know what’s coming, and we can fall back on what we’ve heard or read about these passages in homilies or reflections. With this in mind, I think that many people would say these stories about Elijah and Peter are about fear and doubt—those times when the Lord might say to us: O you of little faith”.
But as Pope Francis has often reminded us, our God is a God of surprises and newness. And so, as we reflect on these wonderful texts, let’s ask what else God might be speaking to us.
In the First Reading, the Prophet Elijah is on the run. In the scene from the First Book of Kings that comes immediately before the passage we heard this afternoon/morning, Elijah was condemned as “the Disturber of Israel” because he had defeated a group of false prophets who had been part of a royal plan to introduce the worship of the god Ba’al in Israel. Because of this, he was being hunted by those in power, and so, he fled and sought shelter in a cave in the wilderness. And, as we heard, God came to Elijah in the cave to console him—and to tell him to continue his mission—but God didn’t come in a way that Elijah expected. God wasn’t present in spectacular visions or awesome signs. Rather, it was in stillness… in ordinary silence… that the “tiny whispering voice” of God was heard and peace was restored.
Yes, there is an element of fear in the story because Elijah was fleeing to save himself from certain death, but, in the cave, he waited in faith and that encounter with God in the stillness transformed Elijah and his mission.
And then, we have the Gospel…
As I said a few moments ago, we can hear this story as one of doubt and fear—even failure—but that isn’t where the story begins or ends. When Peter climbed out of the boat after Jesus called him, he demonstrated a daring faith and trust. And Peter does begin to walk on the water. But, as we also saw with the Prophet Elijah—and as so often happens in our own lives—Peter begins to feel overwhelmed and frightened by the storm raging around him, and he loses his focus.
Did Peter’s faith waiver? Yes.
Did he lose sight of the One who had power over the storm and the wind and the sea? Yes.
And yet…
And yet, as with Elijah, the story of Peter doesn’t end with doubt and fear. When he began to sink, Peter didn’t try to turn back to the safety of the boat. Rather, he called out, reached out—in faith—“Lord, save me!” and that’s exactly what Jesus did. Jesus lifted him up above the drowning waves and he calmed the storm-winds that would have overwhelmed any one of us.
“Saint Pierre marche sur la mer” by James Tissot (1886-1894)
When we place ourselves in the story, in that boat with the Apostles, we realize that Jesus' invitation to Peter to “get out of the boat” is also an invitation for each one of us. Because we, as disciples, are meant to stay in the boat. Disciples are supposed to go out to share what we ourselves have received.
But, what does it mean to step out of the boat?
What would it mean for you to enter into the storm,
to take the Lord’s hand,
and allow yourself to be led where he wants you to go,
to do the work that he wants you to do?
Because that’s what these Readings are about.
Elijah and Peter and each one of us are being reminded that despite the storms that rage around us, despite the challenges that we may face in life, God is there—the God who can still storms and who will not let the torrents drown us. All that we are asked is to have faith and to remain focused on the one who “proclaims peace.”
Now, I can’t say what that means for you or for your life. Getting out of the boat means something different for each one of us, because each of us is called to a unique form of discipleship that makes the best use of our gifts and talents. The important thing is that you and I recognize that Jesus is saying to us, “Come,” and that we risk accepting that invitation.
In my own life, one of the times that I stepped out of the boat was more than 20 years ago when I entered religious life. And in that time, I’ve weathered storms and many changes and challenges, especially when the Lord has invited me to something new or more. Over these years, I have also heard the still, small voice of God whispering, speaking to me through the lives and faith of so many people, including members of my own religious family.
I’ve been asked to join you this weekend to share with you a bit about my religious community, especially the work of the Salvatorian priests and brothers in Tanzania, in southeastern Africa. And I feel like the Readings this Sunday really fit who we are as Salvatorians. The mission given to us by our founder, Blessed Francis Mary Jordan, was to proclaim the loving kinds of the Divine Savior. And when I look at the work that our priests, brothers, sisters, and lay members are doing today in more than 45 countries, I don’t often see great and wonderful deeds or a concern with legacy. But I do find faithful men and women who are willing to get out of the boat for the sake of those whom they serve, and who try to bring God’s consoling words of peace, consolation, and mercy, to those whose faith might be flagging or who feel overwhelmed by the storms of life.
At the invitation of Pope Saint John XXIII, Salvatorian priests and brothers from the United States traveled to Tanzania in the early 1960s and established some of the first Catholic missions in the country. Today, you will find, Tanzanian Salvatorians serving in parishes, schools, in medical dispensaries for children, sponsoring Catholic radio programs for evangelization and inter-religious dialogue, and developing youth outreach programs in isolated areas. Our priests and brothers are also helping support local farm cooperatives, and, more recently, Salvatorians in Tanzania—with support from donors in the US—have helped to build new wells, providing safe drink water for 72 isolated villages across the country.
One of our most important contributions to the church in Africa is Jordan University College in the city of Morogoro, which has a special focus on the work of evangelization. And so, besides the training of Salvatorian seminarians from different parts of Africa, programs are also offered to diocesan and religious priests, sisters, catechists, and lay people to empower them to proclaim the Gospel more effectively, both in the local church and on the international level.
And, finally, because of the many blessings and growth our missions have experienced in Tanzania over the years, the Church has invited us to establish new missions and schools in impoverished parts of Kenya and Uganda.
I will actually be making my first visit to Tanzania later this month to be part of a special celebration in which more than 50 lay women and men will make their commitment as Lay Salvatorians. This is the first celebration of its kind in the country, and I have no doubt that the gifts of these new Salvatorians will enrich the work of our priests, brothers, and sisters in that country.
Your gifts to support our priests and brothers in Tanzania is a vital part of helping these good works to not only continue but to flourish. Please help them as they seek to be the presence of Christ for those whom they serve. And so, on behalf of our Salvatorian priests and brothers working in Tanzania, I want to thank you for your generosity and your prayers.
For each of us, regardless of our unique vocation, to invitation to “Come”—to leave the safety of the boat—is there. But with that invitation is the promise that God will not allow the storms to overwhelm us. Through whatever may come, we trust that the Lord is there before us. And so, we ask for the gift of courage and for the grace to move beyond our fears, and doubts, and to make the words of the Psalmist our own:
“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” (Psalm 85:9-10). Amen.
Almighty ever-living God,
whom, taught by the Holy Spirit,
we dare to call our Father,
bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts
the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters,
that we may merit to enter into the inheritance
which you have promised.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
