HOMILY FOR THE 19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

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1 Kings 19:9. 11-13; Psalm 85:8-13; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33.

“FAITH AND THE STORMS OF LIFE!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      Today the church celebrates the 19th Sunday in ordinary time year A. Jesus continues to elucidate the need for us to have a deep faith in him no matter what our situations in life are. In good or in bad times we must learn to trust and praise God.

·      The gospel reading today (Matthew 14:22-33), presents us with the encounter between Jesus and Peter on the sea. While Jesus was walking on the sea, Peter and the other apostles thought him to be a ghost. Peter being who he is, in order to verify if it was Jesus, he asked to walk towards Jesus on the sea. Jesus granted this request. As soon as his faith and trust in God began to wane, he sank simultaneously.

·      Dear friends in Christ, the sea is traditionally full of waves and storms (Jonah 1:4), and Jesus by walking on the sea demonstrates his power over all creation including the forces of nature (Matt. 8:27).

·      If Jesus walked calmly on the stormy sea to calm it, will He not also walk on the storms of life that threaten our peace and well-being? We must trust him and we must have deep faith in him.

·      Notice that Peter only began to sink the moment he began to focus on the stormy sea and not on Jesus Christ who had invited him to come over. Dear friends in Christ, the storms of life will engulf us the moment we continue to dwell on our inadequacies, limitations, and problems rather than focusing on God.

·      Dearly beloved, it is true that the storms of life can be overwhelming and severe but when we keep our focus on God who has called each one of us by our names just as he called out to Peter, then we are sure we will reach our destination if we follow his footsteps. Yes! the storms and waves may still threaten us but with our focus on Jesus, we will conquer.

·      Jesus invites us all today to cast away every fear and doubt from our hearts because they are obstacles to serious faith commitment. Yes! Jesus did not promise us an easy ride, but he assures us that when the storms of life arise against us, he will be there in the boat to calm the troubled sea.

·      The First reading (1 Kings 19:9. 11-13), makes us understand that to develop an unreserved faith in God, we must go from God to the world and from the world to God. The prophet Elijah needed to hear God desperately to calm his fears and anxiety and to reassure us of his presence in his mission. He fled to the cave in fear and God manifested himself to him in a cool and calm wind.

·      In our troubles and storms of life, are we calm and collected enough to listen to the soothing voice of God amidst those difficulties? Do we allow God to talk us through our situations and pains? Or do we insist that we must do our will and solve our problems our way?

·      Dear friends in Christ, we must always develop this deep faith in God to save us from all our distress and troubles and it is this faith that will enable us to call out to him in our travail and difficulties while extending our hands to him and saying “Lord save me” (Matt. 14:30).

·      For the many times, we have allowed the difficulties and the storms of life to make us lose our faith in God, for the many times we have trusted other things other than the saving power of God, we must like Psalmist says, “Let us see O Lord your mercy and give us your saving help” (Ps. 85:7).

·      We pray that the Lord may increase and give us an unshakeable faith in him and in his word that irrespective of the storms we encounter in life, we must continue to trust and serve him and that he may deliver us through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!

 

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