Do not be afraid

  But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ (Matt 14:27)

 

 (Year A: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 13^th August, 2023)

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READINGS 

I Kings 19:9-18

Psalm 85:8-13

Romans 10:5-15

Matthew 14:22-33

(See, also, Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:16-21)

What am I afraid of? What are you afraid of?  Good questions because the answer takes a bit of thinking.  Again and again, across the scriptures, we are admonished and advised to not be afraid.  We should take the time and trouble to sit still in the presence of God at home or in a quiet church or in quiet park or garden. There, in the silence we might sense or hear so to speak a whisper - 'It is I'.

In today’s first reading we hear of Elijah meeting God on mount Horeb – not in scenes of thunder, noise and commotion but in the ‘sound of sheer silence’ (1 Kings 19:12) according to one English language translation (NRSVA). Other versions have ‘a still small voice’ (RSV) or ‘a gentle breeze’ (CEV) 

The message that emerges is that God speaks gently and almost silently.  We can hear if we are still and at rest. The idea of a whisper or a gentle breeze evokes memories of a time when the Holy Spirit spoke to us in a delightful way.

However, hearing the Lord ‘speak’ to us is more than just fanciful imagination while we still the body and the mind. The writer of this Sunday’s selection from Psalm 84 declares:

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. (v.12).

To hear what God has to say to us we must be ready to ‘turn to him’ in our hearts. In other words, we must be ready to do his will. Such a disposition is not easy because we prefer to hear what we want to hear from sources that suit our agenda and hang-ups. Listening with a ready ear and an open heart and with a will ready to submit is what matters. Otherwise, we risk twisting scripture (and tradition which birthed scripture) to our own liking and tastes. It may seem impossible to approach the Word of God in such a manner of complete abandonment but we are encouraged by what St Paul writes in today’s selection from the Letter to the Romans:

‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ (10:8)

And what does this Word that is so near to us on our lips and in our hearts say this Sunday 13th August? It says:

‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ (Matthew 14:27)