19^th Sunday-Year A

1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a

Psalm 85: 9-14

Rom. 9:1-5

Mt. 14:22-33

Be a Cave and Shelter for Somebody

Beloved in Christ, St. Paul in the second reading of today is doing an examination of conscience and asking himself: Why I am doing the things I do? What impact is my Christian life having on my people? He was expressing his sorrow over the spiritual and physical suffering that his people, the Jews, were going through and prayed that he could lay down his life to end their suffering and help them come to know the love and mercy of Christ.

Like St. Paul, we need to an examination of conscience before we leave the house to come and worship at Mass: “Why am I going to Mass today? What impact will my going to Mass today have on my life and others? Our readings today remind us that Christianity is not a set of doctrine to be accepted or rejected, but rather a love relationship with God and his people, a relationship that we profess, celebrate, and live out.

In our first reading today, we heard about the prophet Elijah looking for shelter from the storms and problems in his life. He was being pursued by King Ahaz and the Queen, Jezebel, who wanted him dead. As Elijah was waiting for God to save him, the problems seemed to get worse and he had to face a strong and heavy wind, an earthquake and fire. One important point in the reading is how Elijah was able face all the storms, the earthquakes, and fire. He found a cave on Mt. Horeb, which gave him shelter and helped him to wait until the storms, the earthquake, and the fire were over. Beloved, in the Bible, a mountain stands for the house or dwelling place of God. In New Testament theology, the mountain symbolizes the Church, the People of God. As a Church, we are called to be the cave in which people can take shelter, as they continue to search and wait for God. 

Beloved, do you know anybody who is like Elijah and is going through any storms in life right now? I bet you do. If you look at your family, co-workers, society, and our parish community, you will see people who are hurting. If you watch the news, you will know that millions of people are hurting in our world today. Thousands are dying in Ukraine, Syria, Africa, Israel, Gaza and other parts of the world. Thousands of people are being displaced and they are dying in the dessert in Iraq due to attacks from a terrorist group called Isis. They need food and water to survive. Have you heard that over 60 thousand children from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and other countries from South America have become refugees and homeless here in the USA since last year?

Beloved, these are the people who are crying the same cry we did in the responsorial psalm today: “Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation”. How shall people in the world find God and see his kindness in the darkest hours of their lives, if you and I who make up the Church, the mountain of the Lord, cannot provide a cave, and a shelter for them? That is what Jesus continues to challenge us to do in the gospel: Jesus feeds the people, goes up on the mountain by himself to pray, but he does not take is eye off the people. He sees them facing the storms and he walks towards them and helps them sail to safety. Beloved, that is what it means to be a Christian. Praying for the people, keeping your eye on what is going on in their lives, entering into their lives to walk with them into safety, and helping them find Christ.  This is what Jesus always did, translating prayer and worship into concrete actions that transforms people’s lives, and that is what he calls on us to do. My Dear People of God, yes, as a Church, we have always reached out to people in in the difficult moments of their lives and provided a cave, but God is telling us we can do more.  

It is to respond to Jesus’ call to do more that we, as a parish here at St. Thomas, have began a new ministry called Stephens Ministry, a one-on-one ministry, which aims at providing special training for interested parishioners who want to do one-on-one outreach and walk with people who are going through difficult moments in their lives. Yes, my Dear People of God, we can do something about the suffering in our world today. In addition to reaching out as a community through the Stephens ministry, we can also take some initiatives as individual members of the Body of Christ. I want to invite all of us to do a novena for world peace. Extend this invitation to your friends and families on Facebook, Twitter etc. and ask them to join you to pray for peace in our world, in our families, and in our hearts. Secondly, I want to invite families who can to consider being foster parents to the thousands of children who have crossed our boarders and have become homeless in our country; If you can not be foster parents, just call Catholic Charities and ask them how you can become a cave and shelter for God’s people! It is in taking practical steps like this that our worship today and everyday will impact our lives and our world. May Christ continue to shine in us; May Christ continue to shine in his church, Amen!

Beloved in Christ, our gospel today tells us that we have a God whose heart moves with pity when he sees us going through suffering. The responsorial Psalm tells that the hand of God always feeds and saves his people. God’s love for us is forever sure! That is why St. Paul, in our second reading, tells us that nothing can separate us form the love of God (Romans 8:35-39), and that in all things, we can find the love of God and help people to experience God’s love even in the darkest moment of their lives.

In our first reading today, God sent the prophet, Isaiah, to tell the people who had been in exile for over 50 years to come to him for new life. There is a word that is repeated about four times in the reading today. Can anyone tell me? It’s “Come”. Why does God repeat the word four times in the reading today? It seems God is addressing people of all nations: north, south, east, and west, saying: “Count on me!” Beloved, God words are not empty promises; they are “events” that must take place and practically change people’s lives for better (Is. 55:10-11).

God always fulfills his promises, but he always needs a human instrument to represent him. In order to save people from exile, God needed a sacrament, an instrument who would make his promises concrete for his people. That is why God called, Cyrus, a pagan King who defeated the Babylonians, set the Israelites free, and helped them to rebuild their lives. Cyrus was an outward sign of God’s grace. Our gospel reading today reminds us that Jesus is the God who promised the people of Israel and saved them from exile. He is the same God who fed over five thousand people in our gospel today because “his heart was moved with pity for them”. He is the God who is calling on the whole world to count on him.

My dear people of God, millions are hurting in our world today. Thousands of people are dying and thousands are being displaced due to the war between Israel and Gaza. Thousands are dying in Ukraine, Syria, Africa and other parts of the world. Over 90 thousand children from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and other countries from South America have become refugees and homeless here in the USA. These things move Jesus’ heart with pity, and I believe they move our hearts to pity. But, Beloved, it is not enough to have our hearts be moved with pity, we need to take some practical steps to do something to change these situations. In the face of these evils and sufferings in the world, the question the world is asking today is where is the hand of God? Beloved, you are the hand of God; I am the hand of God. Jesus is telling you and me that we must feed his people with new life and change their situation.

Just as in the times of the people of the Old Testament God needed Cyrus, Jesus needs his disciples to become sacraments of his love and mercy in the world today. That is what Jesus meant when he told the disciples in the gospel today: “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” You may look at these problems and, like the disciples in the gospel, say: “there is no way I can change these situations, I don’t have the resources to change these situations and make any difference in somebody’s life. There is nothing I can do about them. They are too big for me.” But take a moment and listen to the words of Jesus one more time: “…give them some food yourselves.” Beloved: We are Sacraments of God’s love and Mercy! Beloved: We are Sacraments of God’s love and Mercy!