09/08/2026
Homily for the Nineteen Sunday in Ordinary tTime - Year A
1 Kgs 19:9-13 Rom 9:1-5 Mt 14:22-33
By Bp. Christian Carlassare at Holy Family Cathedral, Rumbek.
Last Sunday, we heard the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish. Today, we hear about Jesus walking on the water. In both miracles, Jesus reveals who he is. He is the Messiah: he renews the miracle of manna in the desert and feeds his people. And he is the Son of God: he walks upon the waters, something only God can do.
In the biblical imagination, the sea represents the unknown, chaos and danger. We are afraid of it. But God has dominion over the waters. At creation, the Spirit of God moves over the waters, and God separates the waters from the dry land. The sea cannot frighten God.
After the multiplication of the loaves, five thousand people ate and were satisfied. They wanted to make Jesus king because he seemed to fulfil their expectations. They had found someone who could solve their problems, satisfy their hunger and give them security.
But Jesus withdrew. Why? Because Jesus is the Messiah, but not the Messiah they imagined. His power is not the power to crush enemies. His power is the power to carry the suffering and injustice of the world. He does not save by violence. He saves by love.
So Jesus withdraws to pray. He needs to listen to the Father, to discern his path, to remain faithful to his identity and mission.
We see something similar in the prophet Elijah. After defeating the prophets of Baal, Elijah becomes afraid of Queen Jezebel and runs into the desert. He had entered the logic of power: defeating his enemies, confronting them with strength and force. But violence eventually turns against the one who uses it. Elijah becomes afraid for his own life. He could have continued his crusade. He could have tried to defeat Jezebel as well and perhaps even seize power. But instead, he stops. He withdraws into the desert and begins to ask the deeper questions: Who am I? What am I becoming? Where is my vocation leading me? What does God really want from me?
And there, God reveals himself. Not in the mighty wind. Not in the earthquake. Not in the lightening or fire. But in a gentle breeze. It is as if God tells Elijah: “I sent you as a lamb among wolves. But you have killed the wolves, and you have become a wolf yourself. You have lost your identity. You have lost your mission. I cannot work through a wolf. Remain a lamb. Otherwise, everything is lost. Remain a lamb, so that you can still become a sign of hope and a possibility of conversion for others”.
This is also our struggle. Conversion means becoming more like Jesus, the Lamb of God. Not simply Christians in words, but Christians in the way we live, speak, forgive and treat one another.
Then Jesus sends his disciples to the other shore. Notice this: Jesus does not allow them to remain where they are, enjoying the success of the multiplication of the loaves. He makes them leave.
Perhaps the disciples could have said: “It is late”. “The wind is against us”. “It is dangerous”. “Let us wait until tomorrow”. “We are better off staying here”. “The other shore is pagan territory. Let us remain among our own people”. But Jesus says: “Go to the other shore”.
And the disciples struggle to reach it. Sometimes we also remain stuck because we are not willing to move beyond what is comfortable. We prefer what we know, our people, our habits, our way of thinking. We avoid the other shore because the other shore demands conversion and mission.
And when we are not converted, even Jesus can appear to us like a ghost: not as the living Lord who is present and active in our lives, but as something strange and frightening. Then Jesus says: “Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid”. “I am the Lord. Why are you afraid? Will you hide from me like Adam because of your sin? Will you run away from me like Cain after killing his brother?”
Then Peter speaks: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water”. There is faith in Peter, but there is also something else. He wants to test Jesus. He wants to experience the power Jesus has. “Let me be like you. Give me your power, so that I will no longer be afraid. Let me walk above the waters. Let me overcome evil and death”. And Jesus challenges him back: “So, Come”.
Peter gets out of the boat. He walks on the water. But after a few steps, he begins to sink. Did Jesus cheat Peter? No, rather Jesus make Peter to cry out: “Lord, save me!” That is the heart of the Gospel: we cannot save ourselves. We cannot become like Christ by possessing his power. We become like Christ by allowing him to save us. We cannot overcome the waters by our own strength. We overcome them by holding the hand of the One who is stronger than the waters.
Perhaps the most important prayer we can make is not: “Lord, make me strong”. “Lord, make me powerful”. “Lord, remove all my problems”. “Lord, take away every suffering and every cross”. But simply: “Lord, save me”.
And when we are weak, defeated, afraid and surrounded by danger, we hold on to his hand, trusting that he will not let us go.
Sometimes we can even play a kind of theatre in the Church: “Thank you, Lord, for saving me”, while deep inside we still believe that we can save ourselves through our discipline, our strength, our popularity, eliminating rivals and so on. But our comfort is not salvation.
Salvation is not the elimination of every difficulty. It is not a life without suffering. It is not always being victorious, secure and powerful. Salvation is knowing that, even in the storm, the hand of Jesus is there. And when we offer our hand to our brothers and sisters, they are not relying on our strength, but on the hand of Jesus that hold us together.
And this is why St Paul says in the Letter to the Romans: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for my people”. Paul sees people who need salvation, but who are not aware of their need for salvation. They believe they are fine as they are. They are looking for relevance, recognition and power, but they do not realize how much they need God.
And perhaps this is the final question for us today: Where is your brother? Where is the person who is sinking? Where is the person who is afraid? Where is the person who has lost hope? Where is the person wounded by violence, hatred or injustice? And when you see him sinking, what will you do? Will you push him further into the water? Will you turn away? Will you say, “It is his problem”? Or will you extend your hand?
Perhaps today Jesus is not only asking us to take his hand. He is asking us to become his hand for someone else. To remain a lamb in the midst of wolves. To refuse the logic of violence. To cross to the other shore. To trust Christ in the storm. And to stretch out our hand to the brother or sister who is sinking. Because the Christian is not the one who never enters the storm. The Christian is the one who knows whose hand to hold and whose hand to reach for.
