20140810 THE REAL TEST OF FAITH IS SURMOUNTED THROUGH PRAYER
Reading 1, First Kings 19:9, 11-13
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night there.
Then the word of Yahweh came to
him saying, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'
11 Then he was told, 'Go out and stand on the mountain
before Yahweh.' For at that moment Yahweh was going
by. A mighty hurricane split the mountains and shattered the rocks before
Yahweh. But Yahweh was not
in the hurricane. And after the hurricane, an earthquake. But Yahweh was not in
the earthquake.
12 And after the earthquake, fire. But Yahweh was not
in the fire. And after the fire, a light murmuring sound.
13 And when Elijah heard
this, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance
of the cave. Then a voice came to him, which said, 'What are you doing here,
Elijah?'
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
Gospel, Matthew 14:22-33
22 And at once he made the disciples get into the boat and
go on ahead to the other side while he sent the crowds away.
23 After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills
by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
24 while the boat, by now some furlongs from land, was
hard pressed by rough waves, for there was a head-wind.
25 In the fourth watch of the night he came towards them,
walking on the sea,
26 and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they
were terrified. 'It is a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear.
28 It was Peter who answered. 'Lord,' he said, 'if it is
you, tell me to come to you across the water.'
29 Jesus said, 'Come.' Then Peter got out of the boat and
started walking towards Jesus across the
water,
30 but then noticing the wind, he took fright and began to
sink. 'Lord,' he cried, 'save me!'
31 Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. 'You have
so little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'
32 And as they got into the boat the wind dropped.
33 The men in the boat bowed down before him and said,
'Truly, you are the Son of God.'
Reading 2, Romans 9:1-5
1 This is the truth and I am
speaking in Christ, without pretence, as my conscience
testifies for me in the Holy Spirit;
2 there is great sorrow and unremitting agony in my heart:
3 I could pray that I myself might be accursed and cut off
from Christ, if this could benefit the brothers who are my own flesh and blood.
4 They are Israelites; it was they who were adopted as
children, the glory was theirs
and the covenants; to them were given the Law and the
worship of God and the
promises.
5 To them belong the fathers and out of them, so far as
physical descent is concerned, came Christ who is above all, God, blessed for
ever. Amen.
THE
REAL TEST OF FAITH IS SURMOUNTED THROUGH PRAYER
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 KGS 19:9, 11-13; ROM 9:1-5; MT 14:22-33
http://www.universalis.com/20140810/mass.htm
The liturgy today
challenges us to examine the depth of our faith in Christ. For today our
faith is constantly at risk due to personal and impersonal threats.
In life, we are constantly vulnerable to broken relationships, be it
infidelity, betrayal, slander or even persecution. This was the situation
of Elijah when his enemies were going after his life for slaying the false
prophets. Sometimes, the trials of life come as a result of natural causes or
unforeseen circumstances. This could be a loss of job as in a
retrenchment, a failure in a project or a business or a sickness. In all
these situations, our lives are in jeopardy and our security is endangered.
Faith is challenged not
only in adverse circumstances but most of all when we are tested in our love
for God and for others.
How many of us can be like St Paul who was willing even to sacrifice his
security and life for their loved ones? Would you still continue to be faithful
to God and to your spouse who has been unfaithful? Would you still
continue to help your wayward son who is involved in drugs, gambling and
getting himself into all kinds of debt and trouble and trust that God somehow
will give him the grace to change?
Because our faith is
always under test and being challenged, it is therefore vital that we be
prepared always lest
the temptation of despair is too overwhelming for us. By then, it might
be too late as has happened to many people. We must avoid falling into
the same mistake of Peter who thought that he was confident enough to walk to
Jesus on the waters but when he “felt the force of the wind, he took fright and
began to sink.” When confronted with stress and pressure of various kinds and
of great intensity, we too tend to lose faith. As a result, we become
bitter, resentful and crippled in life. Like the disciples, we are
crippled by fear and disillusionment.
How then can we be
prepared for all
situations so that our faith will not fail us? The answer is clear:
pray. To know God we must find Him at the mountain, just as Jesus and
Elijah did. Instead of looking down at the waters, as Peter did and began
to lose hope, we are called to look up, to the mountain where we can find the
strength of God. Instead of looking only at our problems, we are called
to focus our eyes on the power and strength of Jesus. Prayer is the
key to remaining calm and firm when we are tempted to despair. We
cannot follow Peter who prayed only when he was paralyzed by fear. Prayer
cannot be a last resort in resolving situations but it must permeate all our
activities in life.
Let us be clear that prayer
is not to be understood as escapism or opium to dull our minds and pains.
Rather, like Elijah, prayer must be seen as a tactical retreat and
withdrawal in order that we might recollect our direction and vision.
In fact the mountain is very symbolic of what God wants for us. When we
are at the mountain we can see everything in life in perspective. Quite
often we lose hope in life because we fail to see things according to the mind
and plan of God. When people come before God in prayer, they only tell
God how big their problems are but they never tell God how big He is!
Precisely because we do not think that He is Big enough to solve our problems,
we become anxious and worried. So prayer is necessary to keep our
objective and vision clear. This was true both for Elijah and
Jesus. For Elijah, he needed time to discern the direction that God was
taking him, since his jealous love for Yahweh seems to have landed him in
trouble. It was also the case for Jesus whom we are told went up to the
hills to pray as the people wanted to make Him a political king. It is
part of the discernment process to help us distinguish the ghosts and illusions
in our lives like the apostles.
But to be able to see life
from God’s perspective, we must listen to Him in the silence of our hearts.
That is why at the mountains when we are all alone, God’s voice is
clearest. Indeed, Elijah did not experience God in the mighty wind or an
earthquake or a fire but in the gentle breeze. The disciples too did not
experience God in the storm but only when Jesus got into the boat and the wind
had dropped. So if we want to find God and hear His voice, then we need
to be quiet and listen to His promptings and counsel when we pray and meditate.
Quite often the noise of
the world and our activities drown out the voice of God speaking to us in our
hearts. We think that when we are involved in many activities, we would
find God. We think that we can only find God in spectacular situations,
in big rallies and prayer meetings. The truth is that God is found more
than not in the quietness of our hearts when we are silent in contemplative
prayer.
Secondly, we must pray
so that we can recognize God’s presence in the storms of life. God is
always present but very often we are unable to recognize Him. For the
first reading says that, “the Lord himself went by” when Elijah stood outside
the cave of the mountain but he missed seeing His presence. Similarly,
the disciples did not see Jesus in the storm. They thought He was a ghost
even though Jesus was present with them all the time. Jesus knew that His
disciples needed help. Truly, God will never abandon us. Even if we
feel His absence because of the lack of prayer or consciousness of His
presence, we must realize that He is always there in our midst. It
remains true that real faith is not simply to recognize His presence when the
storms have subsided but to trust in His faithful presence even in the
storms. Hence, we must continue to persevere in the storms and wait for
the calm to return. Once the calm returns, we will be able to feel His
presence again.
But it is not enough to
recognize His presence. We must also feel His presence as well.
Although St Peter recognized His presence, he began to sink because he could
only feel the force of the wind, not the presence of Jesus. Similarly,
Elijah needed to feel God’s presence in the breeze before he found faith.
Truly if we feel the
presence of God in the storms of life and not just know and believe in faith
that He is present, we would remain firm and strong, come what may. Yes,
we must pray for the gift of faith to see and hear Him in our storms saying,
“Courage. It is I. Do not be afraid!” So that instead of
being fearful, we can surrender our lives in reverence at the divine plan of
God; and in adoration for Jesus as we move from faith in Him to worship and
adoration just as in the case of the disciples who “bowed down before him and
said, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”
However before we can
grow from faith to adoration, which is intimacy with Him, we must
acknowledge our helplessness, like Peter who cried out to Jesus, “Save me,
O Lord.” Unless we recognize we need help, God will not intervene in our
lives. Without humility and a ready acknowledgement of our powerlessness,
God cannot reach out to us with His grace.
Perhaps because many of
us are so proud and not used to relying on God but our own strength, we
suffer an inability to let go and let God take over. For this reason,
sometimes, God allows us to suffer, not to punish us but to help us
recognize our position in the universe and that we are not so mighty after
all. God allows us to experience failures, frustrations and
hopelessness. These are valuable moments for they make us reach out in
trust and surrender to God. It is in our weakness that we find strength
in the saving grace of God. In our abasement, we find the power of God;
in our fears we find new courage; in our helplessness, we find the miraculous
intervention of God. Truly, in many ways, storms reveal our helplessness
and God’s greatness. Storms help us to be humble and thus can be a good
pedagogy for deepening our faith.
Unfortunately many of us
learn too late, as we do not have a relationship with the Lord. In good times,
nothing perhaps will disturb our peace; but when tragedy or misfortune strikes,
our faith might not be strong enough to see us through. If we are not
prepared, we might even lose our faith. Without doubt, we will have to go
through very difficult times and purification before we come to find God and
His peace again. So whilst we are still happy and strong, let us not take
our faith for granted. We must, whilst we can, cultivate a strong faith
in Him and develop a real personal relationship with Him. In this way, we
will be prepared for any situation in life and ready to carry the cross unto
death when the trials come, knowing that the resurrection is within our reach.
Yes, only in prayer and
most of all in a personal relationship with Jesus, can we learn to trust Him
more and more with our lives. Without a personal knowledge of Jesus, we
would not be able to accept the risks, as Peter did, in walking on the waters
of life. Only a real faith can empower us to leave our relative security
behind and follow Jesus with conviction through the storms and trials of life,
for we know that the Lord is always waiting for us even if we cannot see
Him. Truly, a mature believer has this immoveable foundation that God is
and that He cares; that He is watching us through the storms. Only a
faith of this caliber can withstand the good and bad times of life.
Indeed, a true faith is one that can truly proclaim that God is good all the
time because He is God!
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOHARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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