19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-13a
2. Psalms 85: 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
3. Romans 9: 1-5
4. Matthew 14: 22-33

• Getting my attention
• I believe that it's common for us to wish that God would just send an e-mail, or perhaps have an oracle of some sort knock at our door when He has something to say, but that doesn't appear to be the way of things.
• Thinking back over the various times and places when God needed to communicate something to you, how did you decide that this was God, and not something/someone else?
• In general, how good do you think you are at listening to what God has to say to you?
• When you try to discern His will, how do you tell if you got it right?
• What are some things that have made it hard to hear His voice in your life? 

•  God's kindness
• We speak of God's great mercy and kindness.  We speak of the contrast between what God could do, versus what He does do.
• How has God been kind to you lately?
• What makes you see that as a kindness?
• If a friend or relative treated you that way, would you see it as kindness?
• How do you strive to reflect that same kindness to others? 

• God's grace
• We sing that God's "grace is enough", but what does that really mean?
• How would you define "grace" in this context?
• When have you seen God's grace active in your life?
• How did you receive/appropriate that grace?
• How did that grace change you? 

• Overboard for Jesus
• I love Peter.  He never does anything by half measures.  I want to have his boldness.  I'd even be willing to accept his lapses if I could have his courage.  I think that he felt exhausted, abandoned, and at his wit's end when he saw Jesus, and Peter needed to be sure it was really Him, because Peter just could not take one more stress that day.
• When is a time that you felt that you had reached the "end of your rope" and just had nothing left, no gas in your tank?
• How did you pray in that circumstance?
• How did God answer you?
• How did you know that it was Him who provided that answer?
• Do you think that you turn to God in such circumstances earlier/more easily now?

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be trying to still some of the noise in my life today?
•  How is God showing me kindness today?
• How is God showing me His grace?
• Do I really trust God in my life?

Cutting Through the Noise

 

The rest of the disciples were panicking behind me.

Tossing anything from the boat to give us just a little more buoyancy.

The ragged sound of buckets of water being flung madly overboard.

The shrieking wind and crashing waves adding their voices.

All made for a deafening chorus.

 

But somehow, when I saw Jesus,

All of that urgency was thrust from center stage in my view.

And He came into sharp focus in the midst of  the chaos.

Showing us that we were not abandoned, not alone.

The other disciples were too busy to notice.  I needed to demonstrate His Presence.

 

That, and I needed to be near Him again.

Even if for just one last time.

I have been borne on the bosom of these waters for my whole life.

I always knew that this sort of fury was possible.

And I thought that I had what it took to ride it out, come safe to shore.

 

But now, in a flash, I realized how wrong I was.

I saw that Jesus beside me was what I needed most.

Not just strength, flash reflexes, even the support of the other disciples.

What I needed was His hand in mine to show me how to use all that.

What I needed was His guidance to show me the way.

 

He was coming toward us, that much I could see.

But suddenly, that wasn't soon enough.

Not personal enough.

I needed Him now, this very instant.

And I, for a moment, was ready to do whatever it took to reach Him.

 

Maybe if I had ran across the water a little faster 

So that I would get to Him before I started to sink.

Maybe if I had done a better job keeping my eyes on Him.

Maybe if I didn't listen to myself screaming that leaving the boat was madness.

All that I know was that I felt so very free in that moment.

 

I'll never look at the sea the same way again.

Sometimes, I stand in the shallows and let the wavelets wash over my feet.

And remember that moment when I could follow Jesus out onto the water.

And I tell myself that today, today I can follow Him yet again.

Into new horizons and wider vistas.  If only I keep my eyes on Him.

 

Shalom!