The Word as a gentle whisper

FIRST READING—If we are to read the chapters leading up to today’s verses, we will discover that Elijah arrives at the cave, a broken and discouraged man. The wicked queen, Jezebel, has run him out of town. In the verses prior to this reading, Elijah asks God to take his life. In response, God tells Elijah to “stand before the Lord as he passes by.” God does not appear in the mighty storm or earthquake, but in a tiny breeze – in the silence. In this experience, Elijah discovers that God is now to be found in the Word that comes as a gentle whisper. Elijah hides his face from God because Mosaic tradition has it that one cannot look upon the face of God and live (Ex 33:18-23). In and through this gentle experience of God’s presence, Elijah’s faith and hope are restored and he returns to his role as God’s prophet.

©2020 Fr. Eamon Tobin. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

God is found in the whisper of the heart

FIRST READING—The story from Kings tells of a prophet who wanted to hide from the storms in his community. Violence was all about him so he took refuge in a cave. God called him out of the cave to stand on the mountain before him.

A strong wind blew up which tore up trees and moved rocks. After the wind there was an earthquake. After the earthquake there was a bush fire. Each time God showed Elijah that none of these signs was a manifestation of the presence of God.

God was showing Elijah that God is alongside us in turmoil but God does not cause us turmoil. God is not to be found in displays of power over. This is an important truth for today when some of the so called servants of God use power to effect their will.

After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When Elijah heard the whisper, he covered his face for he now recognised the presence of God. He also faced the fact that some of his attitudes and methods had been violent. This moving story reminds us that displays of power do not achieve anything but increased fear. God will be found in the whisper in the heart. God will be found in the quiet working out of peaceful solutions.

©2005 Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Used with permission.

God grants strength to Elijah in the silence of prayer

FIRST READING—Elijah’s prophetic ministry was exercised in the Northern Kingdom around 850 BCE. There is no “Book of Elijah” in the Jewish Scriptures, but his work is reported in the Books of Kings.

He is a kind of Moses figure for his times: He runs into problems with the monarchy as Moses did in Egypt; He escapes into the desert only to be summoned from there to minister to God’s people. He, too, needs to undergo a personal conversion.

Whereas he had expected God in the mighty upheavals of the natural order, he discoversthat God ultimately can be found only in profound silence, when the self is completely out of the way. He has to put aside all his human and earthly expectations in order for the utterly transcendent God to come to him and to strengthen him in his powerlessness.

© 2017 Father Clement D. Thibodeau. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

God calls Elijah out of his hiding place

FIRST READING—If this reading were all we ever heard about Elijah we might think of him as a holy hermit, maybe even a quiet, gentle soul. This selection doesn’t remind us that Elijah had just pulled off one of the showiest grandstand stunts in Bible history by getting God to make a soaked sacrifice burst into flame. Our opening gives us no hint that Elijah was running away. He fled to the cave where we encounter him because just after performing that fire caper, he oversaw the slaying of Queen Jezebel’s prophets and she was dead set on getting revenge.

The passage in today’s liturgy doesn’t tell us that when his flight wore him out, Elijah lay down under a shade tree and begged God to just let him die in peace (1 Kings 18:21-19:8). While Elijah was thus resting and feeling sorry for himself, God sent an angel to shake him out of his lethargy. Elijah then took a 40-day trek through the desert to Mount Horeb (Sinai) where Moses had had his encounters with God. All of this is the immediate preparation for Elijah’s experience in the cave that we read about today.

Elijah wanted peace and quiet, but God called him out of his hiding place. With a summons that would turn the knees of the bravest to jelly, Elijah is told,“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” Can’t we just hear him taking quick recourse in Psalm 24: “Who can go up the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his holy place?”

Elijah couldn’t quite get himself to leave that cave. From inside, he heard the boulder-crushing storm, he felt the earthquake and saw the fire. Then, from outside his place of refuge, he heard a whispering sound. Coming in the calm after the storm, this wasn’t even an oracle — no words, just a sound. But somehow, Elijah knew what it meant. Hiding his face in his cloak, like Linus in the Peanuts comic strip with his blanket, he went to the entrance of the cave.

The reading doesn’t tell us anymore. All we hear is that Elijah stood half-hidden at the entrance to the cave. He listened to God’s gentle presence. That was enough. With that, he could go on.

©2017 National Catholic Reporter. All Rights Reserved. Sr. Mary McGlone  is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. 2017 Reflections,  2020 Reflections can be read at National Catholic Reporter website.

This passage contains God’s Divine Name, YHWH, (rendered LORD in the translation), repeated seven times.  In the symbolic significance of numbers in Scripture, the number seven represents fullness and completion; it is also the number of the Holy Spirit (see the document about the symbolic significance of numbers in Scripture).  YHWH (Yahweh) is God’s divine covenant name.  It was first spoken in the Biblical account by Eve (Gen 4:1), used by Abraham when he addressed God (Gen 15:2), and the name by which God told Moses all generations in a covenant relationship with Him should invoke Him (Ex 3:15).

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

The contest with the priests of Baal, the murders of so many brother prophets by wicked Queen Jezebel, and the continuing apostasy of the covenant people left Elijah in a state of physical and emotional collapse.  Elijah sank into a deep depression.  He stopped eating and prayed for death (1 Kng 19:4).  God took pity on His prophet and sent an angel to feed Elijah until he was strong enough to travel forty days to Mount Sinai/Horeb (1 Kng 19:8).  God sent him to the place where He first established His covenant with Israel to remind the prophet that what was at stake was more than the success or failure of one prophet.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

Once he arrived at the mountain, God told Elijah to stand in a cave to await the coming of his God. He stood in a mighty wind, an earthquake, and fire before he heard a tiny whispering sound (1 Kng 19: 11-12). The wind, earthquake, and fire were manifestations of God’s power and sovereignty over the earth, as in the theophany the Israelites experienced at their rendezvous with Yahweh at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:18). But the “tiny whispering sound” was a manifestation of God’s gentle Spirit that calls humanity to salvation. When the prophet heard the whispering sound, he realized God’s Divine Presence was about to pass by. He covered his face and stepped forward to the entrance of the cave to be renewed by the experience of the unique intimacy of being in God’s Divine Presence.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

Elijah covered his face (1 Kng 19: 13) because he knew from the Pentateuch of Moses, which recorded a similar experience Moses had in an intimate encounter with the Divine, that no human being could see the face of God and remain alive (Ex 33:18-23). Humans could see God’s glory as reflected in creation and the signs of His Divine Presence like the Glory Cloud (e.g., Ex 13:21-22). However, before the coming of God the Son in His Incarnation, sinful man could not behold the glory of God and remain alive. God knows our strengths and our weaknesses. When He calls us to fulfill a mission, our success does not depend on our strength and courage, but our willing obedience to follow His call. It is in Jesus Christ that God has revealed Himself to humankind, to offer us His loving compassion and the gift of eternal salvation.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

Psalm 85 is a hymn proclaiming God’s goodness to His covenant people. God brings inner peace to those who draw near to Him. God assures the covenant people in verse 10 that He loves them: Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land. You may ask, “What does fear have to do with love?” Fear in the sense of verse 10 means the fear of offending our God who we love with all our heart and soul. If you fully love, you express signs of your love in fellowship and harmony. We do not set out to offend and hurt those we truly love. We offend God and diminish our love for Him when we are disobedient to His commands and the teachings of God the Son, as communicated by Mother Church. Our sins separate us from fellowship with God, from communion with our brothers and sisters in the family of God, and are evidence of a lack of love.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

11 Kindness [hesed] and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.

God revealed Himself to Israel as the one “abounding in steadfast love (hesed in Hebrew means “covenant love”) and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6). The Fathers of the Church saw in Ps 85: 10-11 the promise of the Incarnation of the Divine Word, the union of Godhead and human nature in Jesus Christ. St. Athanasius wrote: “Truth and mercy embrace in the truth which came into the world through the ever-virgin Mother of God” (Expositio in Psalmos, 84).

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

112 Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven. 13 The LORD himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase. 14 Justice shall walk before him, and prepare the way of his steps

Using the imagery of fruit produced by rainfall and the fertility of the earth in Ps 85: 12-13, the psalmist proclaims that salvation comes through God’s steadfast love and forgiveness. His forgiveness will come down from heaven (verse 12), and on the earth, the people will live in justice, keeping their vows of fidelity. In His works and His words (Ps 85: 13-14), “God displays not only His kindness, goodness, grace, and steadfast love, but also His trustworthiness, constancy, faithfulness, and truth … He is the Truth, for ‘God is light, and in Him, there is no darkness’; ‘God is love'” (CCC 214 quoting 1 Jn 1:5). God reveals His mercy to the people He chose for Himself. In the course of their unfolding history, the people of Israel, when facing misfortune and in times of restoration and prosperity, entrusted themselves to the God of mercy and love. St. John Paul II wrote, “All the subtleties of love became manifest in the Lord’s mercy towards those who are His own” (Dives in misericordia, 4).

God granted His mercy and salvation to the “sons of Korah,” traditionally attributed as the authors of this psalm in the superscription. The sons of the traitor, Korah, understood God’s forgiveness and mercy. They were the descendants of a Levite who led a rebellion against Aaron and the chief priests of the ministerial priesthood (Num chapter 16). God destroyed Korah along with members of his family and others who followed him in the rebellion, but the young children in Korah’s family did not bear the curse of their father/grandfather (Num 26:10-11). In David and Solomon’s time, the descendants of Korah became the Temple’s chief liturgists and choirmasters (see the titles of Ps 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 84, 85, 87, 88).

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

The rejection of Christ by his own people

SECOND READING—These verses are an introduction to Chapters 9, 10 and 11 of Romans, in which Paul deals with the issue of the Jews in God’s mystery of salvation. Paul is very proud of his Jewish heritage and, prior to his conversion, saw it as his God-given duty to rid the Israelite faith of Christian heretics. But God opens his eyes and helps him to see that Judaism is a preparation for the fullness of God’s revelation. Paul hopes all Jews would come to this conclusion and open their hearts to Jesus. Unfortunately, this is not happening.

The rejection of Christ by his own people breaks Paul’s heart. His grief is so deep that he is willing to be separated from Christ if this means that his people will accept Christ. Paul lists seven privileges or blessings that his people have received from God which should open their hearts to see in Christ the fullness of God’s revelation. Paul’s pain is not unlike the pain of people who become separated from family and friends over issues of faith and religion.

©2020 Fr. Eamon Tobin. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

When the legacy of violence taints generations

SECOND READING—Paul touches on the issue where the legacy of violence has tainted generations. Jesus died a good son of Judaism. Succeeding generations have tried to separate Jesus from his roots and in doing so had perpetrated a racism which has not yet been overcome. The violence around us, insidious racism and overt terrorism which not be resolved until the violence in our hearts has been faced and eradicated. This calls for ongoing conversion of heart. “Do not be afraid. It is I.

©2005 Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Used with permission.

Paul suffers with the fact that Israel does not believe

SECOND READING—Paul begins the three-chapter section where he will deal with the case of Israel which has been God’s chosen but has now rejected God’s Messiah. Where do the People of the Promise and of the Covenant and of the Glory of God now stand before God? They have not been faithful. Is God still faithful? Paul is in anguish. He goes so far as to say that he wishes he were alienated from Christ ifhis flesh-and-blood Israelites would only come to believe!

© 2017 Father Clement D. Thibodeau. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

People of every generation share Paul’s problem

SECOND READING—In Romans 9, Paul deals with the disappointing reality that so few of his people have come to faith in Christ. Like parents who wonder why their children have left the church, he recounts all the blessings his people have received. Paul calls his people “Israelites,” using the name bestowed on their ancestor Jacob who struggled with God. He then lists the advantages God has given them and them alone: They are God’s adopted, chosen above all others; They were given covenants and the Law; God taught them how to worship; They are the people of the promise, and they have the patriarchs. In his anguish Paul wonders why they don’t believe in Christ when their entire past prepared them for the Messiah. And, so one could ask: “What more could they have been given?”

Paul says he would give anything if only they could be brought to faith: “I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people.” He sounds just like his predecessor Moses who gave God an ultimatum: Either forgive the calf-worshippers or blot me out of your book! (Exodus 32:32). Both Paul and Moses sound like parents.

People of every generation share Paul’s problem. We wonder why others don’t see what we do. For some it becomes the poignant question: “If mine is the way to salvation, will all others be damned?” Nearly two thousand years after Paul, the church grappled with that question and came up with a response that opened a new Catholic approach to other faiths. With the Second Vatican Council and subsequent reflection, we acknowledge that we reach an intellectual impasse when we simultaneously profess that Christ is the Savior of the world and that God wills the salvation of all peoples, Christian or not. In this, the church has taken the path of intellectual humility. We trust that universal salvation will come about in ways that only God comprehends. Individual Christians are still called to be witnesses, but we aren’t responsible to make all humankind believe what we do. (See statements by the Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations with the Jews.)

Gaudium et Spes (“Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World”) states that varieties of atheism are among the most serious human problems of our time (#19). That reiterates the concern that Paul and today’s families share. This document also lays part of the blame for contemporary atheism and agnosticism on the lack of credible witnesses among church members.

Where does all of this leave us in a society where the number of those who profess no religious belief, the “nones,” is growing faster than any denomination? Today’s Gospel offers us an example of the kind of witness the world needs.

©2017 National Catholic Reporter. All Rights Reserved. Sr. Mary McGlone  is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Her 2020 Reflections can be read at National Catholic Reporter website.

In the first two verses of this passage, St. Paul expresses the pain of his rejection by his fellow Jews. He also writes of his longing for the salvation of all his Jewish countrymen who are the “firstborn” sons of the Old Covenant. And he expresses his desire for them to come to believe in Jesus as their Savior and Lord. These are Jews who have accused Paul of abandoning his people. St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, advised Paul on this problem when Paul visited Jerusalem in the spring of AD 58 after this letter was written and delivered to the Christians in Rome. St. James told Paul, “You see, brother, how thousands of Jews have now become believers, all of them staunch upholders of the Law; and what they have heard about you is that you instruct all Jews living among the gentiles to break away from Moses, authorizing them not to circumcise their children or to follow the customary practices” (Acts 21:20-21). Knowing these things are being said about him, Paul refutes the accusations that he has abandoned his people. In verse 3, Paul states he is willing to offer his life as a sacrifice if it brings his Israelite countrymen and women into the New Covenant in Jesus the Messiah.

Compare what Paul writes in Romans 9:1-3 with what he wrote in 8:31-39. What he writes in our passage is not a contradiction of his former words. The Chapter 8 passage deals with God’s love and faithfulness, and his statement in Chapter 9 testifies to Paul’s willing sacrifice of himself for the sake of the salvation of his countrymen. In fact, the two statements complement one another. God’s faithfulness and love for us should move us to love others with His same intensity to the point at which we should be willing, as Christ was willing, to suffer anything in order to bring salvation to others in need of God’s gift of salvation.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

1. Divine election/adoption: The election of Israel is interpreted as elevation to a corporate “firstborn” sonship status in a relationship with Yahweh. In Exodus 4:22 Yahweh affirms, “…Israel is my son, my firstborn” (also see Deuteronomy 14:1; Isaiah 1:2; Jeremiah 3:19-22; 31:9; Hosea 11:1). This corporate privilege extends to the children of Israel as a nation above all other nations of the earth.

2. Yahweh’s presence: Manifested in Yahweh’s glory (Hebrew = shekinah; Greek = doxa) in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire (Ex 13:21-22; 15:6, 11); in the Theophany at Mt. Sinai (Ex 19-24); in the desert Tabernacle (Ex 34:30); and later in the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kng 8:11). The promise of God’s continual presence was made to Moses in Exodus 33:14-17.

3. Covenants: Biblical covenants are either Treaty Covenants or Royal Grant covenants. Royal Grant Covenants are forever and carry no stipulations. However, a Treaty Covenant entails both blessings for faithfulness and obedience as well as penalties for unfaithfulness and disobedience. In Romans 9:4, Paul speaks of Israel’s covenants with Yahweh in the plural (diathekai). These included the covenant formed with Abraham, the physical father of Israel as God’s covenant people. It was a three-fold covenant that extended through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob (renamed Israel), the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. See the list of Yahweh’s eight covenants.

4. Law/Torah [instruction]= the creed and code (what to believe and how to do it): The moral and civil law was the expression of God’s divine will, given to instruct the covenant people in righteous living and to set them apart from all the nations as a people holy to Yahweh. This instruction was not limited to the written Law of Moses but included the sacred Oral Tradition and extends to all divinely inspired Old Testament texts which Yahweh placed in Israel’s care.

5. Liturgical worship of the One God: The Sinai Covenant established liturgical worship, including sacrificial requirements and what was necessary to forgive sins and re-establish fellowship and communion with God. Moses received the instruction when he was taken into the heavenly court (Ex 25-31). Liturgical worship was first established in the desert Tabernacle and later continued in the Temple in Jerusalem.

6. Prophetic promises: The covenant promises, first made to Abraham (Gen 12:2; 13:14-17; 15:4; 17:4-8, 16, 19; 21:12; 22:16-18), and repeated to Isaac (Gen 26:3-5); Jacob (Gen 28:13-14), Moses (Dt 18:18-19), Aaron (Lev 2:13), Phinehas (Num 25:11-15), and David (2 Sam 7:11-16), and spoken by Yahweh through the Prophets concerned the unique condition of Israel’s divine election as a covenant people (Books of the Prophets).

7. Ancestral heritage of the promised seed: Israel worshiped the God of their forefathers in whom the promised seed of Genesis 3:15 has been preserved, from Seth to Noah and Shem, to Abraham (Ex 3:13; 13:5) and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob-Israel. It is from these forefathers that the Messiah came to Israel.

8. Messianism: The promise of a future Savior, destined to come to redeem Israel as a prophet (Dt 18:18-19), high priest (Ps 110:4), and king of an eternal kingdom (Davidic covenant 2 Sam 7:11-16; 23:5), was foretold by the Prophets of Yahweh (e.g., Jer 23:5-6; 30:9; 33:15; 36:30; Hos 3:5; Ps 132:17; Dan 9:25].

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

Notice that Paul writes “covenants” in the plural in Rom 9:4 (also see Sir 44:12, 18; Wis 18:22; 2 Mac 8:15). See the chart on Yahweh’s Eight Covenants. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), in his book Many Religions, One Covenant, commented on Romans 9 and the link between the people of Israel and God’s covenants. He wrote: “In chapter 9 of Romans, Paul sings the praises of Israel: among God’s gifts to his people are ‘the covenants,’ and according to the Wisdom tradition they are a plurality. […]. Paul is well aware that, prior to the Christian history of salvation, the word ‘covenant’ had to be understood and spoken of in the plural; out of these various covenants he selects two particularly, sets them up in mutual opposition, and refers each one to the covenant in Christ: these are the covenant with Abraham and the covenant with Moses” (Many Religions, One Covenant, page 55). Also see CCC#s 60; 762; 218-19.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

In Romans 1:16, Paul acknowledged that the Gospel of salvation was intended for the Jews first: For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for the Jew first, and then the Greek, referring to the Gentiles. Jesus made this same statement of priority when He instructed the woman of Samaria in His encounter with her at the well of Sychar, saying, for salvation comes from the Jews (Jn 4:22c). But this preeminence of the Jew in God’s plan of salvation has now become the problem. In Chapter 3, Paul asked the question: If Israel is the chosen people of God and the ones meant to receive the gift of salvation, then how can it be that many have refused that path to salvation? In the first century AD, only a faithful remnant of the Jews of the old Israel embraced the New Covenant of the Messiah Jesus and His Gospel of salvation to form Jesus’ Kingdom of the “new Israel” that is the universal Church (CCC 877).

What is the meaning of this rejection by the Jews? What is its significance in the historical election of Israel as the first among many nations? What about the irrevocable promises Yahweh made to His chosen people: to their forefathers, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to Israel as the first, unified covenant people at Mt. Sinai? In Romans Chapter 4, Paul referred to those promises, but he only mentioned them as they were related to Abraham’s justification by faith contrasted with works of the old Law. In this section of his letter, Paul returns to the foundational promises made to Abraham, and he applies those promises to the question of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah and the “ingathering” of the Gentile nations of the earth into the New Covenant of salvation in Christ Jesus.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

When all seems lost, Jesus shows up

GOSPEL—This story follows directly after the miracles of the loaves and fishes. In that story, we recall that Jesus’ effort to go to a quiet place to pray was interrupted by the crowds. So after his long day of teaching the multitudes, he heads off to the mountain for quiet time.

In the meantime, the disciples get into a boat and head out to sea. But, suddenly, a big storm erupts and they become very frightened. Then without invitation, Jesus comes towards them. At first, they think he is a ghost. Jesus tells them to ‘take courage’ as they confront a big storm.

Peter asks if he can come to Jesus walking on the water, something that takes a lot of courage. As long as Peter keeps his eyes on Jesus, he does well, but once he focuses on the storm, he starts to sink. Jesus comes to Peter’s aid and takes his hand. Our constant challenge, especially in times of fear, is to put our hand in the hand of Jesus. Jesus saves his frightened friend and rebukes him for his ‘little faith.’ Recognizing Jesus’ power over nature, the disciples worship him saying: “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Writing his Gospel many decades later, Matthew applies the incident to his congregation. The disciples in the boat represent the infant church. The stormy winds represent the fierce persecution of the early church. While Jesus is not with them physically, he is present spiritually. When all seems lost, Jesus shows up.

The part of the story where Peter walks on water and then sinks could refer to Peter’s lapse of faith during the passion and his restoration by Jesus after the Resurrect-ion. It is also symbolic of how any of us could start out courageously and then falter when the storm or crisis comes our way.

©2020 Fr. Eamon Tobin. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

We can’t manage on our own

GOSPEL—Anyone who has crossed a strait in a storm or been caught in heavy seas will appreciate Matthew’s description of the disciples’ journey, “the boat was being harassed by the waves.”

The Scriptures use the metaphor of storm in prayers and writings to convey the turbulence that is a factor sometime in our lives or the life of our community. Look at Psalm 107 or Job 9:6. Only God, who is Lord of the sea, is able to calm the seas of our distressed hearts.

The early Christian communities, like our own were subject to all sorts of turmoil. There are frightening, disturbing disorienting movements and trends within and without our religious communities. Can we tell “good news” with any certainty?

What does this story tell us about our own journey? First, we can’t manage on our own. The Christian community is nothing without Christ, who is the breath for our sails and the stabilizer of our keel. The disciples were in difficulties because there was a great distance between themselves and Jesus.

A great distance opens between us and Jesus if we neglect our study of the scriptures. If homilists do not keep abreast of new studies we are not excused. There are very good programmes both formal and informal available today. Good news is needed to bring life to our communities. Matthew’s community didn’t take mark’s Gospel without adapting the collection to meet their own needs. We must “read” the Gospels in the light of tradition, scholarship and particularly our own life experiences.

The second point of the story is about our response to troubles. Do we lie low, hoping the storm will pass over or do we respond to the call, “Come”?

©2005 Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Used with permision.

Jesus holds Peter when Peter falters in the storm

GOSPEL—Matthew wants to teach his community of Jewish-believers-in-Jesus that their salvation depends on their profound attachment to the Lord Jesus Christ. He will be their shelter and their security in the midst of the world’s troubles and turmoil. The leaders of this Christian-Jewish community for whom Matthew is writing must hear how the original leaders of the followers of Jesus were confirmed in their faith by Jesus himself. They must remember the role played by Peter in the leadership of that first generation now past.

Over the next few sections, Jesus will deal with Peter as the representative of the other leaders, the other apostles. Through Chapter 17, there are three parts, each ending with a story involving Peter and his relationship with Jesus (13: 54 -14:33: Peter walking on water; 14:34 -16:20: Peter’s confession of faith; 16:21 -17:27: Peter paying the Temple tax).

In that particular storm, that particular night, Jesus comes over the waters (already a sign of divine power as in Genesis) and says: “It is I,”those sacred words that identify God when Moses asks for God’s name. These Jewish disciples could not fail to get the message that Jesus was identifying himself with the God of Mount Sinai. The Christian-Jewish community for whom Matthew wrote surely heard the same overtones.

Notice the parallels between this event and the resurrection appearances of Jesus: Fear on the part of the disciples; they do not recognize Jesus; they think he might be a ghost; then, they are reassured by him. He comes to them to strengthen them in faith. When they remembered this story, they had already experienced the risen Christ,so they were able to connect this event with the resurrection of the Lord.

Peter would need to keep his attention firmly focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has all power in heaven and on earth. If he were ever to shift his attention from Christ to himself, he would literally sink! Peter will falter during the trial of Jesus because, again, he is afraid. He has to keep in mind that scene on the lakeshore after Jesus’ resurrection: “Peter, do you love me?”

Walking on water with Jesus is a sign of Peter’s sharing in the awesome powers which the Lord will give him for the guidance of the Church community. It is not given to him for his own aggrandizement or for the sake of amazing his audience. He must know that the hostile forces of nature will have no ultimate victory over him in his task as representative of the Lord Jesus. He will be able to overcome the most ferocious opposition in his ministry of confirming his brothers and sisters in their faith.

We too easily forget that for the Jews,the sea is the place where monsters dwell! They had been a people of the desert,not a seafaring nation. Their experience of the sea, even of Lake Galilee, is one of threat and of danger. It had come to represent much of what was hostile in their lives. Fear of the unknown caused them to exaggerate the reality of the sea’s dangers. The Christian community today has its own dangers and threats. With Peter, we need to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus.

© 2017 Father Clement D. Thibodeau. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

The courage necessary for discipleship

GOSPEL—Doesn’t it seem a little harsh that Jesus would call Peter out as “you of little faith” when the other disciples did nothing more than hang on for dear life in their storm-battered boat? The interchange between Jesus and Peter is unique to Matthew and offers a meditation on Peter’s discipleship.

When Jesus first called Peter and his brother, he told them to follow him to become fishers of men. Now in this incident, there’s a carefully recorded dialogue. At the sound of inchoate cries from frightened fishermen, Jesus calls out, “Take courage! It is I, do not be afraid!” “Take courage” is the same thing Jesus said to the paralytic when he told him his sins were forgiven and to the woman who touched his cloak for healing (Matthew 9:2; 9-22). It really means “Rejoice.”

Why rejoice? Because Jesus says “It is I.” No student of Scripture can fail to recognize that phrase as an echo of the many “I am” statements we hear in John. (The Greek wording is exactly the same.) On one hand, Jesus is assuring them that he’s not a phantom. On another level, he is telling them that he, the Jesus they just left on shore, is the one who is there.

At an even deeper level, coming close to calling himself by the proper name of God, he declares that he is there for them.

Those layers of meaning give context to Peter’s reply, “If it is you, command me to come.” It doesn’t seem probable that Peter is saying “Prove this is no fantasy.” For that, he could have simply said, “Pinch me.” No, Peter was entering into a realm more mysterious than ghostly appearances. The simplest and most challenging interpretation is that Peter was saying, “Let me come to you and be like you.” If so, that was a moment of blinding faith. Peter understood momentarily, that discipleship means walking like the Master, no matter how impossible it seems.

What sank Peter was his doubt, although the translation “wavering” probably offers a more appropriate explanation. A rather visual definition of the Greek word for doubt, distazo, says that it means to stand in two ways. Peter got caught between noticing the strength of the wind and the power of Jesus’ invitation. The wind and waves took their toll, but only until he called out for help.

A wonderful thing about this incident is that it’s not a success story. It’s a salvation narrative. This story speaks of the courage necessary for discipleship. It’s okay to be frightened in a storm. It’s downright heroic to risk stepping out of the boat and into the raging waters. Most of all, when self-confidence has dangerously overstepped its limits, the ability to call for and receive help is the real sign of faith.

The soggy Peter who got back in the boat was both humbled and empowered. He had learned, not for the last time, the truth that God’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

If we use today’s readings as a guide to discernment about our times, we may decide to choose Peter as our patron of audacious attempts. Today’s tempests include the lack or loss of faith in our families and society as well as the intolerable violence and injustice that plague our world. We can hide from them or heed the voice that whispers or shouts, “Take courage! Rejoice!” Elijah allowed himself to be drawn from hiding in the cave, and Peter leapt into the depths that only Jesus could help him navigate.

The world needs witnesses willing to risk trying to walk like the Master, people whose way of living entices others to faith, people who continue in the struggle to proclaim the validity of Gospel values in spite of countervailing winds. We surely won’t triumph with every attempt, but this is about salvation, not success.

©2017 National Catholic Reporter. All Rights Reserved. Sr. Mary McGlone  is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Her 2020 Reflections can be read at National Catholic Reporter website.

In verse 23, the Greek word oros means “mountain” and has symbolic significance in Scripture since it pertains to revelations of God that include:

1. The revelation of God on Mt. Sinai (Ex 19:3, 16).
2. Jesus’ preaching of the new Law of the Gospel on the Mt. of Beatitudes (Mt 5:1)
3. The revelation of the glorified Christ on the Mt. of Transfiguration (Mt 17:1; Mk 9:2; Lk 9:28), to name a few.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

Jesus defies the laws of nature by walking on the waters of the stormy sea. Since this is an impossible act for an ordinary human, at first, the disciples think they see a ghost. Jesus calms their fears by calling out “Ego Ami” = I AM. In the Old Testament Greek translation of the Septuagint, the expression Ego Ami functions as the Divine Name (see Ex 3:14; Dt 32:39; Is 41:4 and in chapter 43 ten times: see 43:3, 5, 10, 11, 12 three times, 15, 19, 25 in the Hebrew and Greek OT texts). In Isaiah 43:5, the words of the Divine Name appear along with the command “fear not” or “do not be afraid,” just as Jesus reassures the disciples in this passage.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

At first, Peter was successful, but when he took his eyes off Jesus to look at the stormy sea, he became frightened and began to sink into the churning water. Peter had two choices: he could try to swim back to the boat, or he could call upon Jesus to save him. Evidence of Peter’s faith in Jesus and His confidence in what he knew was Jesus’ true identity is found in the fact that Peter cried out to Jesus to save him. St. John Chrysostom and St. Augustine identify Peter’s appeal to Jesus as an act of repentance for which Jesus rewarded him with salvation (Chrysostom, The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 50.2; Augustine, Sermon 75.10).

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

In the first calming of the storm at sea miracle (Mt 8:23-27), the disciples asked: “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”  Now they have their answer: Jesus is the Divine Messiah; only God can control nature.  They immediately bowed down in submission, obedience, and worship, using the title “Son of God” in the same sense as the prophets, identifying Jesus as the Davidic Messiah.

In the Bible, the title “son of God” did not necessarily mean divine sonship but could also mean adopted sonship, as St. Paul described the covenant relationship with God as Father for Israelites and Christians (Rom 8:14-15; 9:4; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5).  For example, the title “son of God” identified intimate relationships between God and His creatures as in the case of:

• Angels (Job 1:6)
• The covenant people (Gen 6:2, 4*; Ex 4:22; Wis 5:9, 45)
• Individual Israelites called by God to special service (Dt 14:1; Ho 2:1; Mt 5:9, 45)
• The anointed Davidic kings (Ps 2:7; 2 Sam 7:14; 1 Chron 17:11-13), and the Davidic heir, Jesus of Nazareth (Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22)

*Genesis 6:2 and 4 refers to men in covenant with God who took wives from among the people who had abandoned Yahweh for false gods.  They became men of influence with both groups of people, but because of their wives’ pagan practices, lost their relationship with Yahweh.  The verses do not refer to angels marrying human women since angels are only spirit beings and do not have bodies, as Jesus stated in Matthew 22:30.

It is in the usual sense of God’s divinely anointed servant or Davidic heir that the title “Son of God” is applied to the promised Messiah in Old Testament Scripture (1 Chr 17:13; Ps 2:7; and 89:26).  However, when Jesus identified Himself as the “I AM” and demonstrated His power over nature, the disciples began to understand that Jesus was the “Son of God” in a sense not previously applied to other men by having God for a Father in a way others could not claim.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus miraculously transformed five loaves of barley bread (only St. John includes the detail that it was less expensive barley bread in Jn 6:9) and two fishes into enough food to feed the crowd.  First, He tells them to recline in groups on the grass (Mark’s Gospel records that the groups were composed of fifty and one hundred people in Mk 6:39-40).   Then Jesus blessed the bread, broke it, and gave the food to His disciples to distribute to the people.  Scripture records that five thousand men were fed, not counting the women and children, so the number feed was perhaps twice or three times as many.

Agape Bible Study by Michal E. Hunt; used with permission.

1. Turn to the person next to you and share what word/s or image/s in the readings caught your attention. Did they comfort or challenge you or touch you in some way?

2. In the first reading, God is teaching Elijah that God is to be experienced in the very small events of life. What are some of the small ways you can and do experience our Lord?

3. In the second reading, Paul is heartbroken because his people have rejected Christ. Have you had a similar experience, e.g., when a family member rejected Christ or the Church? How did that make you feel?How did you handle it?

4. In the Gospel, Jesus’ presence allowed Peter to do something he would never dream of doing. How has Jesus enabled you to do something you otherwise would have been afraid to do?

5. Can you recall one big stormy event where you felt Jesus’ presence?

6. Name one thing today’s Gospel says to us that we disciples of Jesus need to heed and act on.

©2020 Fr. Eamon Tobin. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

1. What situations do you find most threatening to you at this time in your life? What do you fear the most? Do you firmly believe that Jesus calls you to come to him no matter what the danger may be? Do you feel that you have been confirmed in your faith by Jesus himself who has invited you to come to him?

2. What are the dangers that most threaten Church leaders today? What are the storms that they have to face every day? A hostile culture that does not value religious principles or religious commitment? An atmosphere which favorsdeath rather than life(abortion-on-demand, death penalty, neglect of the poor, etc.)? Superficial faith in the lives of many Church members? Ashortage of vocations to the priesthood and religious life?

3. What dangers does your particular community face? Your parish, your prayer group, your family? Do you see Jesus coming toward your boat that is being tossed to and fro on the waves? Do you hear his reassuring voice, “Do not be afraid! It is I!” Do you and your fellow Christians want to walk toward him over the very real dangers?

© 2017 Rev. Clement D. Thibodeau. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Here are some of the Church Fathers that Aquinas uses:

Third Century

• Origen  – Alexandrian biblical critic, exegete, theologian, and spiritual writer; analyzed the Scriptures on three levels: the literal, the moral, and the allegorical
• Cyprian  – pagan rhetorician converted to Christianity; acquired acquired a profound knowledge of the Scriptures and the writings of Tertullian; elected bishop of Carthage; martyred in 258

Fourth Century

• Eusebius  – Bishop of Caesarea; author of Ecclesiastical History, the principal source for the history of Christianity from the Apostolic Age till his own day; also wrote a valuable work on Biblical topography called the Onomasticon
• Athanasius  – Bishop of Alexandria; attended the Council of Nicea; opposed Arianism, in defence of the faith proclaimed at Nicaea—that is, the true deity of God the Son
• Hilary  – Bishop of Poitiers; the earliest known writer of hymns in the Western Church; defended the cause of orthodoxy against Arianism; became the leading Latin theologian of his age
• Gregory of Nazianzus  – one of the “Cappadocian Fathers”; a great influence in restoring the Nicene faith and leading to its final establishment at the Council of Constantinople in 381
• Gregory of Nyssa  – one of the “Cappadocian Fathers”; Bishop of Nyssa; took part in the Council of Constantinople
• Ambrose  – Bishop of Milan; partly responsible for the conversion of Augustine; author of Latin hymns; it was through his influence that hymns became an integral part of the liturgy of the Western Church
• Jerome  – biblical scholar; devoted to a life of asceticism and study; his greatest achievement was his translation of the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate); also wrote many biblical commentaries
• Nemesius  – Christian philosopher; Bishop of Emesa in Syria
• Augustine  – Bishop of Hippo (in northern Africa); a “Doctor of the Church”; most famous work is his Confessions; his influence on the course of subsequent theology has been immense
• Chrysostom  – Bishop of Constantinople; a “Doctor of the Church”; a gifted orator; his sermons on Gen, Ps, Isa, Matt, John, Acts, and the Pauline Epistles (including Hebrews) established him as the greatest of Christian expositors
• Prosper of Aquitaine  – theologian; supporter of Augustinian doctrines; closely associated with Pope Leo I (“the Great”)
• Damasus  – pope; active in suppressing heresy
• Apollinaris of Laodicea  – Bishop of Laodicea; close friend of Athanasias; vigorous advocate of orthodoxy against the Arians
• Amphilochius of Iconium  – Bishop of Iconium; close friend of the Cappadocian Fathers; defended the full Divinity of the Holy Spirit

Fifth Century

• Asterius of Amasea  – Arian theologian; some extant homilies on the Psalms attributed to him
• Evagrius Ponticus  – spiritual writer; noted preacher at Constantinople; spent the last third of his life living a monastic life in the desert
• Isidore of Pelusium  – an ascetic and exegete; his extant correspondence contains much of doctrinal, exegetical, and moral interest
• Cyril of Alexandria  – Patriarch of Alexandria; contested Nestorius; put into systematic form the classical Greek doctrines of the Trinity and of the Person of Christ
• Maximus of Turin  – Bishop of Turin; over 100 of his sermons survive
• Cassion (prob. Cassian)  – one of the great leaders of Eastern Christian monasticism; founded two monasteries near Marseilles; best known books the Institutes and the Conferences
• Chrysologus  – Bishop of Ravenna; a “Doctor of the Church”
• Basil “the Great”  – one of the “Cappadocian Fathers”; Bishop of Caesarea; responsible for the Arian controversy’s being put to rest at the Council of Constantinople
• Theodotus of Ancyra  – Bishop of Ancyra; wrote against the teaching of Nestorius
• Leo the Great  – Pope who significantly consolidated the influence of the Roman see; a “Doctor of the Church”; his legates defended Christological orthodoxy at the Council of Chalcedon
• Gennadius  – Patriarch of Constantinople; the author of many commentaries, notably on Genesis, Daniel, and the Pauline Epistles
• Victor of Antioch  – presbyter of Antioch; commentator and collector of earlier exegetical writings
• Council of Ephesus  – declared the teachings of Nestorious heretical, affirming instead the unity between Christ’s human and divine natures
• Nilus  – Bishop of Ancyra; disciple of St John Chrysostom; founder of a monastery; conducted a large correspondence influencing his contemporaries; his writings deal mainly with ascetic and moral subjects

Sixth Century

• Dionysius Areopagita  (aka Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) – mystical theologian; combined Neoplatonism with Christianity; the aim of all his works is the union of the whole created order with God
• Gregory the Great  – Pope; a “Doctor of the Church”; very prolific writer of works on practical theology, pastoral life, expositions of Job, sermons on the Gospels, etc.
• Isidore  – Bishop of Seville; a “Doctor of the Church”; concerned with monastic discipline, clerical education, liturgical uniformity, conversion of the Jews; helped secure Western acceptance of Filioque clause
• Eutychius (Patriarch of Constan­tinople)  – consecrated the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; defended the Chalcedonian faith against an unorthodox sect; became controversial later in life
• Isaac (Bp. of Nineveh)  (aka Isaac the Syrian) – monastic writer on ascetic subjects
• Severus (Bp. of Antioch)  – Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch; the leading theologian of the moderate Monophysites
• John Climacus  – ascetic and writer on the spiritual life; later Abbot of Mt. Sinai; best known for his Ladder of Divine Ascent which treats of the monastic virtues and vices
• Fulgentius  – Bishop of Ruspe in N. Africa; scholarly disposition; follower of St. Augustine; wrote many treatises against Arianism and Pelagianism

Seventh Century

• Maximus ( of Constantinople, 645.)  – Greek theologian; prolific writer on doctrinal, ascetical, exegetical, and liturgical subjects

Eighth Century

• Bede (131CESK) – “the Venerable Bede”; a “Doctor of the Church”; pedagogue, biblical exegete, hagiographer, and historian, the most influential scholar from Anglo-Saxon England
• John Damascene  – Greek theologian; a “Doctor of the Church”; defender of images in the Iconoclastic Controversy; expounded the doctrine of the perichoresis (circumincession) of the Persons of the Trinity
• Alcuin  – Abbot of St. Martin’s (Tours); a major contributor to the Carolingian Renaissance; supervised the production of several complete editions of the Bible; responsible for full acceptance of the Vulgate in the West

Ninth Century

• Haymo (of Halberstadt)  – German Benedictine monk who became bishop of Halberstadt; prolific writer
• Photius (of Constantinople)  – Patriarch of Constantinople; a scholar of wide interests and encyclopedic knowledge; his most important work, Bibliotheca, is a description of several hundred books (many now lost), with analyses and extracts; also wrote a Lexicon
• Rabanus Maurus  – Abbot of Fulda in Hess Nassau; later Archbishop of Mainz; wrote commentaries on nearly every Book of the Bible
• Remigius (of Auxerre)  – monk, scholar, and teacher
• Paschasius Radbertus  – Carolingian theologian; wrote commentaries on Lamentations and Matthew, as well as the first doctrinal monograph on the Eucharist, he maintained the real Presence of Christ

Eleventh Century

• Theophylact  – Byzantine exegete; his principal work, a series of commentaries on several OT books and on the whole of the NT except Revelation, is marked by lucidity of thought and expression and closely follows the scriptural text
• Anselm  – Archbishop of Canterbury; a “Doctor of the Church”; highly regarded teacher and spiritual director; famous ontological argument for the existence of God as “that than which nothing greater can be thought”
• Petrus Alphonsus  – Jewish Spanish writer and astronomer, a convert to Christianity; one of the most important figures in anti-Judaic polemics
• Laufranc (prob. Lanfranc)  – Archbishop of Canterbury; commented on the Psalms and Pauline Epistles; his biblical commentary passed into the Glossa Ordinaria