August 10, 19th Sunday in OT, Cycle A

In the first reading, we encounter a prophet trying to re-find God, and we are given the contrast of “Shock and Awe” vs. Silence as a “clue” to how he found Him. And in the second reading, Paul addresses the community of Christians in Rome, who, too wish to find God, and he urges them to pay attention to the silent heritage of Israel, a heritage not expressed in bombast, but in the silent page, open to be studied and learned from. And, then, poor Peter, in the Gospel who can’t overcome the seduction of the “bombast” to find a calm, holy center, and nearly drowns–a metaphor for all of us, most of whom will never walk on water, but who may nearly drown, nonetheless. True “religion,” the encounter with God, the Lord of our lives, isn’t complex, and needs no pyrotechnics. Nor does it need our personal shame to turn us around. It’s enough to be touch the source of Healing, and let the healing power flow. Then, we, too, like Christ, can become the “hand that lifts” the drowning.