JESUS OUR PEACE

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a/Rom9:1-5/Mt 14:22-33

The First Reading today begins by referring to “The Mountain of God”. This is Mount Sinai in Horeb. This was where Moses had first received the Law of God, the Ten Commandments. This was where Moses encountered God, after which his face shone with a light that no human eye could endure. This was where, after forty days of traveling in the desert, the Prophet Elijah came. It was on top of this mountain where the Prophet Elijah hid inside a cave. But why did Elijah hide in a cave on top of God’s mountain?

Around the year 860 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel was ruled by King Ahab who was in turn ruled by his wife, Queen Jezebel. A henpeck that he was, King Ahab built many pagan temples as ordered by his wife and queen. Apparently overpowering her husband and king, Queen Jezebel opened the palaces to hundreds of false prophets and cronies. But a strange man appeared, wearing a garment of haircloth and a leather loin-cloth. He was jobless, homeless, and wife-less. All he had was a lot of hair that could almost serve as his cloak. He was from Gilead, Elijah the Tishbite. By an account not given to us by the Holy Book, Elijah became fully employed as God’s spokesman to Israel. With fire and fury, like that of a later prophet named, John the Baptist, Elijah confronted the infidelity of the monarchy. He had his biggest break when, in one of Queen Jezebel’s trips, he challenged the queen’s prophets to a public match on the top of another famous mountain, Mount Carmel.

It was a trial of strength, not between Elijah and the queen’s prophets, but between Elijah’s God and the false god, Baal. The public watched the match with great interest, as one after the other, Elijah and the queen’s prophets prayed for fire to consume the sacrifices they prepared. The prophets of the queen invoked their false god all day long until their plea turned into frenzy. But no fire came from heaven. When it was Elijah’s turn, he ordered that the sacrifice be soaked in water. He barely began his prayer when fire appeared and burnt up his offering. The audience applauded Elijah’s God, more than Elijah himself. While the applause was still resounding, Elijah exploited his victory and had all the prophets of Queen Jezebel dragged down the valley. There and then, Elijah slaughtered them all.

Meanwhile, as Queen Jezebel, who was too busy to witness the match between Elijah and her prophets, came back, she realized that Elijah had wiped out all her cronies. She sent Elijah a telegram, saying that he would join them the next day. Thus, Elijah took to his heels and fled to the desert.

While the queen’s hatchet men failed to catch Elijah, today’s liturgy finds him. He is found inside a cave at the mountain of God. But what the royal executioners did not know, the First Reading today does not bother to inform us: Elijah wants to die. He is not only hiding from those who want to take his life but also from life itself. He who valiantly fought for Yahweh against the prophets of Baal now runs like a fleeing coward, hides like a sulking child, and quits like a poor loser. But God meets him right where he is: at the heart of his depression, at the core of his desolation, at the center of his pain, right where it hurts most for him.

On the mountain where Moses encountered God, God meets Elijah today. As it was when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on the same mountain, there is a strong and heavy wind, an earthquake, and fire. But unlike the experience of Moses, Elijah today does not meet God in any of those elements. When the wind calms down, the tremors cease, and the fire is gone, God comes to Elijah in the sound of a gentle breeze. Elijah now meets God in a still small voice.

We can almost hear that still small voice in the Gospel. Today’s liturgy catches Jesus also on top of a mountain. But He is not hiding, sulking, or running away. While survival drove Elijah into hiding, Jesus goes on top of a mountain to pray. Elijah did not choose to ascend the holy mountain, but Jesus did and made another mountain holy.

After feeding a great multitude with only five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus climbs a mountain to pray. He did not linger with the people who wanted to make Him king. He did not stay for photo opportunities or autograph signing. Instead, He sent His disciples ahead of him to the other side of the lake while He dismissed the crowds. Then He went up on top of the mountain by Himself. There He lingered with God and had a Father-and-Son talk with Him. There, on top of the mountain, He prayed. There, on top of the mountain, praying, we catch Jesus today.

Always, on top of a mountain, God meets us in a still small voice. Always, on top of our mountains in life, we find Jesus praying with us, praying for us. Always, on top of our mountains, right where we hurt most, right where we fear most, right where we are confused most, God meets us in the still small voice that whispers to us: “Jesus…Jesus…Jesus….”

But while to some people, the mountain applies, to others, the stormy sea best reflects their troubled lives. The mountain was to Elijah, but the sea is to Simon Peter and the other disciples. Yet whether the mountain or the sea, the same holds true: only Jesus can bring us serenity, only Jesus can give us strength, only Jesus can offer us faith, only Jesus can provide us hope, and only Jesus can supply us love.

Jesus is that still small Voice that is God who speaks of peace. Jesus is the very Word spoken by that still small voice on top of the mountain. He who walks on the stormy sea towards frightened disciples is Jesus, too. Jesus Himself is the calmness of the waves and the silence of the wind.

Meet Jesus on top of our mountains, meet Jesus on our stormy seas, and we will meet our Peace. Like St. Paul in the Second Reading today, even when there is great sorrow and constant anguish in our hearts, let us speak of Jesus. Jesus is our Peace…only Jesus, always Jesus.