Nineteenth Sunday of the Year A

This is the story of two men looking for God amidst the darkness and storms of life

Elijah cannot look God in the face because it was a commonly held belief on the Old Testament that no one was worthy to see Him – no one could look at the face of God and live

Both incidents occur after prayer – Elijah and Jesus both spend the night in prayer, Elijah looks for God, and He is revealed in a still voice. Jesus searches for Peter and the disciples

Both God and Jesus His Son control the forces of nature

Peter and Elijah both hear the gentle voice of God amidst the storms of life, one at a mountain the other at a lake

Peter throws caution to the wind and Peter literally jumps in a lake

 And he will do it again after the Resurrection when Jesus cooks breakfast

In Jesus, we see God’s face – he allowed Himself to be seen, He revealed Himself. But we also hear His voice whispering our name.

Jesus, for once does not call Simon Peter by name, as if to direct his reply and reproach to all men and women of every generation, man of little faith, why did you doubt? As if to say too, why did you doubt me? Jesus extends His hand to Peter who knows His need of God, or he will perish. It is a good prayer, especially when we are at a low ebb, feeling discouraged, at a loss, in a hole with no getting out, at our wits end, at rock bottom  to say save me Lord, or I perish? Like the first step of AA – we came to believe in a power higher than ourselves.

Timing is everything in the Gospel  - the incident takes place in the dead of night – if you ever had a sleepless night, the silence and the darkness and isolation rocking a child, or watching by a bedside of a sick child jealous that they and all the world is asleep.

The fourth watch of the night is the darkest and the last before the dawn

The light of dawn could be very well have been emerging around them as they made their collective cry of enlightened faith – ‘you are the Son of God’.

What does this say to you and to Me?

Have we had the experience where there was no-one else or perhaps there was just one person in the darkness? What darkness have we experienced? Loneliness, rejection, isolation, desperation, meaninglessness? To whom or to what did we turn for relief? What helped? What didn’t? Or what storms – perhaps stormy  relationships have we encountered? How did we cope?

Have we experienced the dark night of faith? Have we made an act of faith, leaving all attachments behind, with our eyes fixed on Jesus?

What storms do we or have we encountered? And where did we turn to look for help? His long did it take us to turn to Christ in heartfelt prayer of surrender? have we jumped overboard from security in a complete act of faith and somehow turned back to safety and security of what is familiar, or are we prepared to meet Christ and make a leap of faith?

It is when we take our eyes off Him that the alternate voice, the inner voice of discouragement, the nagging voice of doubt and negativity saying ‘you can’t do it’ that must be forcefully ignored. It is in silence that we must strain once again to hear what God might be saying personally to us today. How desperate are we to hear Him?