20170813
FINDING FOCUS IN THE STORMS OF LIFE
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Kings 19:9,11-13 ©
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When Elijah reached Horeb, the mountain of the Lord, he went into
the cave and spent the night in it. Then he was told, ‘Go out and stand on the
mountain before the Lord.’ Then the Lord himself went by. There came a mighty
wind, so strong it tore the mountains and shattered the rocks before the Lord.
But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But the
Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. But the Lord
was not in the fire. And after the fire there came the sound of a gentle
breeze. And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak and went
out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 84(85):9-14 ©
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Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your
saving help.
I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace.
His help is near for those who fear him
and his glory will dwell in our land.
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your
saving help.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your
saving help.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your
saving help.
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Second reading
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Romans 9:1-5 ©
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What I want to say now is no pretence; I say it in union with
Christ – it is the truth – my conscience in union with the Holy
Spirit assures me of it too. What I want to say is this: my sorrow is so great,
my mental anguish so endless, I would willingly be condemned and be cut off
from Christ if it could help my brothers of Israel, my own flesh and blood.
They were adopted as sons, they were given the glory and the covenants; the Law
and the ritual were drawn up for them, and the promises were made to them. They
are descended from the patriarchs and from their flesh and blood came Christ
who is above all, God for ever blessed! Amen.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Lk19:38,2:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessings on the King who comes,
in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heavens!
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Ps129:5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 14:22-33 ©
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Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the
other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away
he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there
alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy
sea, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night he went
towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on
the lake they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost’ they said, and cried out in fear.
But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be
afraid.’ It was Peter who answered. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘if it is you, tell me to
come to you across the water.’ ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the
boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt
the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord! Save me!’ he
cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ he
said ‘why did you doubt?’ And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The
men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of
God.’
FINDING FOCUS IN THE STORMS OF LIFE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 KGs 19:9.11-13; PS 84:9-14; ROM 9:1-5; MT 14:22-33 ]
Like the
disciples in the gospel we all battle with the storms of life. They were “battling with a
heavy sea, for there was a head-wind.” This is the reality of life.
All of us have storms in life, regardless whether we are young students in
school or in tertiary institutions, working or retired at home. This life
is fraught with challenges. This is true even when we are successful or
when we do good. As it is said, call no man at peace till he is dead, and
that we must add “hopefully!”
Indeed, this
was the case of Elijah. He had just performed two great miracles by his
efficacious prayers to God. He had won victory over the false prophets of Baal and
killed them. Secondly, he performed the miracle of the rain as Israel was
in drought, demonstrating the power of Yahweh and who the true God is.
Instead of being impressed, Queen Jezebel was enraged when she heard how Elijah
destroyed her prophets. She decided to eliminate Elijah and went for his
life. We can imagine the anti-climax that Elijah must have experienced
after being elated at these two victories. Victory turned to
discouragement, fear and loneliness. He had to flee for his life.
Alone and discouraged, he sought refuge in the desert. He wanted to die
and felt defeated and useless. “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away
my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” (1 Kg 19:4b)
Jesus in the
gospel was battling with His life and mission as well. Earlier on, He was
informed of the death of His cousin, John the Baptist, who was beheaded by King
Herod. (cf Mt 14:1-9) We read that “when Jesus heard this, he withdrew
from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” (Mt 14:13)
He was thinking that what happened to John the Baptist and all the prophets
before him would also happen to Him. He sensed the danger of death ahead
of Him.
In such
moments as these, what we need to do is to withdraw. This is the first
stage of finding focus. We cannot continue to fight the battle when we
have lost our focus, our direction and our sanity. When we are angry,
disillusioned and resentful like Elijah, we cannot remain objective.
Instead of acting, we will just react to situations and people who are against
us. If we retaliate like our opponents, then we will fare no better than
them. That was what Jesus did not do. Instead, He retreated to find
focus.
The first
attempt to find rest in a deserted place failed because the people sought
Him out, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. But He did not give
up easily. When He found the next opportunity, He withdrew to pray. We
too often find ourselves overwhelmed by problems and demands, one after
another. There will always will be an urgent need or thing to do but we
must find the window for us to escape to pray as Jesus did.
So too God
lead Elijah away from the troubles that were overwhelming him. He came to
comfort Elijah and led him through the desert to Mount Horeb, where He revealed
Himself to Moses. From Beersheba, Elijah walked through the desert to the
Mountain of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, covering almost 250 miles.
The
pilgrimage that Jesus and Elijah did was simply to enter into themselves. It was a journey
inward. The pilgrimage did not start when Elijah reached Mount Horeb, it
began from the moment he left Beersheba and all the way to the Mountain.
He needed time to process his feelings, his fears and his underlying
motivations for all he did. Indeed, the Lord challenged Elijah to look
deeper into his resentment and disappointment When asked by the
Lord twice what was bothering him, he replied, “I have been very zealous for
the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your
covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I
alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” (1 kg
19:10,14) But that was not true. Elijah was self-righteous.
He was engaged in self-pity. He was not the lone true prophet as he
claimed to be. There were other good prophets too. He thought too
highly of himself. We too often think that we are the only good people
left when there are many more good people around us.
Indeed, the
real pilgrimage we need to take is to become more aware of ourselves, our
anger, feelings and motives. To find focus in life, we need to withdraw from the hurly
burly of life and enter inward to find ourselves, like Jesus and Elijah.
Only then can we find clarification.
From an
inward journey, we must then take the upward journey to God. This is symbolised
in Elijah going up to Mount Horeb and Jesus going up to the hills to pray. It was in the silence of the
cave that Elijah heard the Lord speaking to Him. God did not appear in
the mighty works of creation as he thought he would, for God is often
associated with earthquakes, fire, wind, lightning and thunder. On the
contrary, God came to him in a whisper.
How true! God
often speaks to us in the silence and recesses of our hearts. I know of many
who encounter God when they are in deep contemplative prayer or when they “rest
in the Spirit”. Many of them testify to the peace, the healing and
assurance they received during such moments of encountering the Lord. In
solitude and in silence, the Lord comes to our lives and put all things in
perspective. So we must look for God in silence; not turn to the pub, or
alcohol, or social activities to drown our pains and frustrations. They
will only lead us to more problems and more frustrations. But like
Elijah and Jesus, we must make the inward journey into ourselves and then the
upward journey to God.
From this
upward journey, we are now ready to move out and make the outward journey. We note that after
encountering God, Elijah was given a clear mission. To Elijah the Lord
told him. “You shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall
anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha as
prophet in your place.” (1 kg 19:15f) He would no longer be alone
but he would have an assistant to help him in his mission. Jesus too,
after spending time with His Father, came to rescue the disciples from the
storm. “Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be
afraid.’ And as they got into the boat the wind dropped.” With
Jesus in their boat, there was calmness again. With Jesus in our
midst, there is no need to be afraid of anything. With the assurance of
His love, we can do everything in Him.
We too who
have received the gospel must now do likewise. Having encountered the
Lord and been renewed in His love, we must now reach out to those who are lost
in the storms of life. We must help others to find focus, just as St Paul did in the
second reading. He was moved by God’s mercy and love for him. He
felt so much for his fellow Jews who rejected the gospel when they were the
chosen people of God. He said, “my sorrow is so great, my mental anguish
so endless, I would willingly be condemned and be cut off from Christ if it
could help my brothers of Israel, my own flesh and blood.” Truly, only
when we have encountered God’s mercy and love, will we also desire to share our
experience with others as St Paul and Elijah wanted.
However, in
this process, we must never take our eyes off Jesus again. This was the mistake
of St Peter. In his impulsive and spontaneous response, he asked the
Lord, “’If it is you, tell me to come to you across the water … but as soon as
he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink.”
Indeed, those of us who have been renewed must never take our eyes away from the
Lord. We must not depend on our impulse to do great things for God.
Our spiritual life cannot be dependent on finding new highs and experiences all
the time. We cannot allow ourselves to be ruled by our heart and feelings
alone. Whilst it is important to be ruled by love, as Peter did, we also
need to use our reason and discipline to help us overcome the trials of
life. The way of Christ is always through the cross and suffering.
Nevertheless,
even if we sink again, let us also never forget that He will save us again,
just as He put out his hand at once and held Peter saying, “Man of little
faith, why did you doubt?” Peter failed the Lord many times and betrayed Him. But the
great thing about Peter was not that he failed, but that he was humble enough
to pick himself up again. Through his failures, he came closer to the
Lord. Through his failures, he learnt to be humble. We too
should not be afraid of failure but we must continue to rely on His grace and
mercy. He will not fail us even when we fail Him. This is our
God, the merciful and compassionate one. All He asks of us is to have
faith in Him and bring Him into our lives.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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