9 August 2026 – 19th Sunday, (A)
9 August 2026 – 19th Sunday, (A)
(1) 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13
God’s voice was like the gentle whisper of a breeze
At that place Elijah came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. ” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Responsorial: Psalm 84:9-14
R./: Lord, show us your mercy and love, and grant us your salvation.
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. (R./)
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven. (R./)
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps. (R./)
(2) Romans 9:1-5
Paul grieves at the Jews’ refusal to accept Jesus. He would do anything to win them for Christ
I am speaking the truth in Christ-I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit- I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Gospel: Matthew 14:23-33
When Peter begins to sink Jesus chides him for his lack of faith
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.
Immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid. ” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. ” He said, “Come. ” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
If the wind should die
1. Voyage: Life can be viewed as journey (Pilgrim’s progress; Exodus; Odyssey) , or still better as voyage (because driven by forces more powerful than ourselves, like wind and wave.) We sail upon a rippling surface of events, feeling the joy of movement, being alive and going somewhere. When things go well, we feel the contentment of those experienced sailors, the apostles on their way home across the quiet lake of Galilee.
2. Waves: A gale blew up, changing their mood. Danger and fear of drowning. Our own life-voyage has its share of storms too, anxieties, problems and pressures of various kinds. How often a sudden turn of events can rob us of inner peace. Are we on a charted course, or just drifting along without any determined direction? Many find it hard enough to stay afloat, pressurised by the bewilderingly changing times, ill-at-ease in their relationships with others, discontented and insecure in themselves. That’s exactly what the frightened apostles in the storm mean for us today: we are those sailors, tossing about in the waves.
3. Remedies: Many prescriptions are suggested, to ease the upsets of our voyage. Like different brands of medication for sea-sickness! A long quiet rest, a change of occupation, psychiatric help or counselling, a course of Yoga or Transcendental Meditation, Contemplative or Charismatic Prayer. Doubtless, every remedy has its own advantages, but what better support can be found in times of stress than an understanding friend? Today’s gospel suggests that our first and most constant recourse should be to none other than, Christ himself.
4. Presence: God is present where we least expect him, although it is a hidden, unseen presence, not always easy to discover. It takes faith nearer than the door.” So the apostles were amazed to see Christ coming to them in the middle of the storm, for (at that stage) they were men of little faith. Elijah, that lonely refugee, faithful to his God despite cruel persecution by Jezebel, discovered the mysterious presence of God in the still, small voice of his own soul. Standing at the mouth of a cave, on the slopes of the holy mountain, he got strength and comfort from the Living God. Where God is, there is peace. But his presence is everywhere, for those who learn to discern it.
A fine expression of this belief in God’s unseen presence is given in Francis Thompson’s poem, The Kingdom of God:
O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air —
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumour of thee there?
Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
The angels keep their ancient places;-
Turn but a stone, and start a wing!
‘Tis ye, ’tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendoured thing.
But when so sad thou canst not sadder
Cry; — and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob’s ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry, — clinging Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water
Not of Gennesareth, but Thames!
5. Safe Harbour: We do not expect to be immune from the hardships and problems faced by all the other voyagers through this life. Indeed, Christ himself shared fully in all of these anxieties, being tested as we are. If the Church be seen as a boat (in which there are no idle passengers, but all are needed to row!) , then we have as destination the safe harbour of eternal life. With the compass of faith, and Christ himself as unseen captain of the ship, that harbour will surely be reached. In the meantime, though tossed about by circumstances, he tells us: “Courage! Do not be afraid, men of little faith!’
← the post’s own content
Key message:
Your miracle may be outside your boat, wherever Jesus is!!
Homily:
Testimony: I knew that the Holy Spirit was guiding me to go to a distant country. I was feeling sick and tired, but I did the necessary arrangements for my travel. On the Sunday before my travel, I fell so sick that I was lying down on the back seat of my car on the lap of my mom. My mom asked me to cancel this travel. Lying down on my mother’s lap, I told my Jesus and my dear Mother Mary, “I don’t know how I am going to travel or who is going to take care of me there. But the only thing I know is “YOU are calling me”. And that is the only reason I am going”. Now four years later, I am really happy that I continued following the inner leadership of the Holy Spirit. I did not step back. I never knew that God was calling me to serve so many souls here.
What is your boat?
Your boat is the place where you feel safe.
Every one of us has one. It may be your comfortable routine. May be your secure job or familiar circle of friends or your fear of trying something new or your fear of failure.
Sometimes even our excuses become our boat.
“I am too old.”
“I am not talented enough.”
“I tried once and failed.”
“What will people think?”
“Someone else can do it better.”
But most of the times, it is fear.
If you are waiting for fear to go away you are going to wait all your life.
However we feel we should go ahead and do what our Jesus calls us to do.
We sit comfortably inside our little boat while Jesus is standing on the water saying one word:
“COME.”
Faith gets out of the boat and walks on water.
Faith is about having a positive attitude about what you can do and not worrying about what you cannot do.
If we have real faith in God, why should we be upset about what we cannot do since if God wants me to do it, God will enable me to do it.
God gives us the faith to do what He wants us to do.
In today’s Gospel, everyone was inside the boat safely, but our Lord Jesus was outside the boat. No one had the ambition to come out of the boat till they saw our Lord. Once they saw the Lord , the door of oppurtunities to walk on water was available to all the twelve disciples.
Our Jesus would have invited any of the willing disciples.
Only Peter requested and was invited.
Our Lord Jesus did not force the other disciples to get out of the boat for a casual walk on water.
The same goes with us. How willingly we ask the Holy Spirit, we will receive the Holy Spirit and we can live a very fruitful life.
How much we want to serve our Jesus, only that much we will be enabled to serve.
We should pray for more and more infilling of the Holy Spirit and pray for big blessings, so that we can bring many souls closer to our Jesus.
Another major factor that still keeps us confined in our little boat is our worry, “What will others think if we do something newly?”
Take the pressure of yourself.
There is no real freedom unless we are free from the need to impress people.
Peter did not worry about whether the other Apostles would become jealous of him and not include him in their team.
Peter desired, Peter prayed, Jesus agreed and Peter jumped into the water.
All the conversations are only between our Lord and Peter.
Neither Peter asked others opinion, nor others encouraged Peter.
Our Lord Jesus will instruct us in the right way. If we asked people who do not even realise whether what they are doing is right, they will never let us walk on water.
Now let us imagine Peter walking on water.
If he adds to his mind all the logic, “Human beings cannot walk on water”, he would not have dared to be different.
When we receive the approval from our Lord, whether our common sense says yes or not, we need to walk on water.
When our Jesus calls us to walk on water, He will make us to comfortably walk on water.
So don’t allow negative thoguhts to fill your mind. Take the first step, after you hear your “Come” form our Jesus.
Sometimes we keep asking God for a safer life.
Our prayers can become, “Lord, remove every problem” or “Lord, make everything comfortable.”
But perhaps our Jesus is saying,
“I don’t only want to make your boat comfortable. I want to teach you to walk on water.”
Your miracle may be outside your boat!!
The eleven disciples stayed inside the comfort of the boat, only Peter walked on water.
You cannot experience a walking-on-water miracle while refusing to leave the boat.
Sometimes we say, “Lord, use me” or “Lord, help me grow.”
Then our Lord Jesus will open a door and say, “Come’.
Once we realise the door is opened, we find excuses for staying inside the boat. We say, “I have got used to the boat and so on… “
But our spiritual growth often happens when our Jesus calls us beyond what we already know we can handle.
Get out of your boat.
Peter actually walked on water. We often remember Peter sinking. But there was Jesus walking along with Peter, who will reach out to Peter, anytime Peter sinks!!
If you begin to sink, remember that His hand is closer than the water beneath your feet.
And the greatest happening here is “Peter entering the boat, holding the hands of Jesus!!”