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| Matthew 14:22-33 |
Today’s 1st Reading tells the story of the prophet Elijah waiting for God. God told Elijah to go up on a mountain and that God would soon pass by. On the mountain Elijah sees driving winds, earthquakes, and fire, yet he knows that those things we not the presence of God. Then, in the quiet, there came to Elijah a tiny whispering sound; God was in the whisper.
Mother Theresa said that “in the silence of the heart God speaks”, yet how often do we take time in our busy and sometimes monotonous daily lives to be quiet and to let God speak? We tend to constantly surround ourselves with people, music, TV, and other distractions. It is so much safer and comfortable to be distracted, though as the 1st reading reminds us, we will never find God if we remain distracted and constantly busy.
The Gospel reading tells the story of Jesus walking on the water toward the disciples as they are being tossed around in a boat. Peter, with an initial firm faith walks toward Jesus on the water but becomes distracted and loses focus on his faith in Jesus; he begins to sink.
Soren Kierkegaard says that a saint is a person who can “will the one thing”. Though initially confident, because of fear and doubt Peter lost his ability to will the one thing. When we become so surrounded by stimulus and distraction and conflicting ideas we sometime lose our own focus, our rootedness in the One Thing—God and His love for us.
When we create time in our days to be silent—even if for a few minutes, we create the space for God to speak for us and for us to be able to listen. Slowing down to hear the voice of God call us His beloved sons and daughters strengthens us to allow that identity as the beloved to ground our lives. It empowers us to consistently will the one thing, that in everything we do to God be the glory—Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
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