Homily – 19th Sunday – Year A – Fr Jeremiah Browne (National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies #southafrica #Botswana #eswatini #Swaziland)
You often hear it said that life can change in the blink of an eye, and how true that is. One moment we think we know what tomorrow will bring, but then without warning, everything can change.
Most of us know something of that experience. We discover very quickly that we cannot control everything that happens to us. That is where we find Elijah and Peter in our readings today.
Just before today’s first reading, Elijah has experienced an extraordinary victory on Mount Carmel, where he showed the people that the God of Israel was the true God (1 Kings 18:20–40). In the process, the prophets of Baal, whom Queen Jezebel supported, were put to death. Jezebel, of course, is furious and vows that within a day Elijah will suffer the same fate.
Suddenly, the great prophet who had stood so courageously on Mount Carmel is afraid and running for his life. Eventually, he takes refuge in a cave on Mount Horeb.
There is something wonderfully human about Elijah in that moment, and maybe that’s where his experience begins to touch our own. We can remember everything God has brought us through in the past and still be afraid of what lies ahead.
It’s into that fear and uncertainty that God comes. Perhaps Elijah expected God to reveal himself in some powerful and unmistakable way yet again. But that doesn’t happen. God is not found in the mighty wind, the earthquake or the fire. Instead, God comes in a gentle, quiet sound. It’s there, in the stillness, that Elijah recognises God’s presence and realises that he has not been abandoned.
Nothing outside the cave has changed. Jezebel is still looking for him. The danger is still real. What has changed, however, is Elijah himself. His encounter with God has given him the courage to step out of the cave and face what lies ahead.
There is a profound insight here. How often do we pray for God to remove a difficulty, solve a problem or show us how everything will work out? Sometimes that happens, but there are also times when God answers differently. Only in time do we look back and realise that, while God didn’t change what was happening around us, he was quietly doing something within us – giving us strength we didn’t know we had, courage to take the next step, and the grace to discover that we were never facing it alone.
That same truth unfolds in a very different way in today’s Gospel (Matthew 14:22–33). This time there is no cave, but there is a boat; no Jezebel, but there is a storm. Peter and the other disciples are already battling against the wind when they see Jesus coming towards them across the water.
Terrified, they cry out in fear. But Jesus immediately calls to them, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27). Peter hears those words and does something extraordinary: he steps out of the boat.
We often remember Peter as the man who sank. Perhaps we should first remember him as the man who had enough faith to leave the boat and walk towards Jesus. For a few extraordinary moments, Peter walks on the water, and then something changes. Matthew tells us that he notices the strength of the wind.
The wind had been there all along. What changes is Peter’s focus. His attention shifts from Christ to the storm around him. He begins to measure the situation by the strength of the wind rather than by the presence of Christ.
We know those storms: illness, difficulties in relationships, financial worries, grief, uncertainty about the future. Before long, the storm can occupy so much of our attention that we lose sight of the presence of God.
When Peter begins to sink, he cries out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reaches out his hand and catches him. Notice what Jesus doesn’t do. He doesn’t wait for Peter to overcome his fear or get himself together. He reaches for him while he is sinking.
Christian courage is not pretending that there is no storm. It is knowing where to look when the storm comes and whom to trust when we begin to sink.
So, as we listen to this Word of God today, where do we find ourselves? Maybe, like Elijah, we need to step away from the noise long enough to hear again the quiet voice of God reminding us that he is still with us.
Or perhaps, like Peter, we are being asked to step out of the boat and trust Christ with something we have been afraid to face.
Wherever we find ourselves, this Word of God reminds us that faith doesn’t promise a life without storms. It promises that we never face them alone. The God who met Elijah in his fear and the Christ who reached out to Peter in the storm is present in whatever we are facing today.
So whatever the week ahead may bring, let us carry with us the words Jesus spoke to those frightened disciples: “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.”
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Please consider praying a decade of the rosary on a daily basis for the evangelising Mission of the Church and the Pope’s intentions.
The Pope’s prayer intention for the month of August:
For evangelisation in the city
Let us pray that in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.
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Blessed Pauline Jaricot, Pray for us. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
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