2026 Cycle A - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-13a; Psalm 97: 1-2, 5-6, 9; Rom 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33
Homily Theme
Hearing the Lord
In this week’s readings, the word that jumps off the page multiple times is the word Lord. This is the title most often used in the Bible when referring to God. The second word this week that strikes me is the word, hear. In the first reading Elijah hears a message internally to go outside as the Lord will be passing by. He makes several attempts to hear God speaking but He finally hears Him in a whisper. God also speaks to you and me, not in extraordinary ways, but in a whisper.
In the Psalm we will tell God that we will hear what He proclaims. What did He proclaim in the psalm this week? Were we listening? God was speaking to us through it.Why does St. Paul have great sorrow and anguish in his heart in the second reading? It is because his own people, the Jews, are not listening to his message, even though they have heard it directly from lips of St. Paul.
How many messages have we heard? Count the number of Masses we have attended. Did He speak to us then? We hear God each week as the scriptures are read to us during the Liturgy of the Word. How many of us remember what the Lord said last week in the Liturgy? We all heard it.
In the Alleluia verse this week, Catholics all over the world in every language will tell God we wait for His Word, just like Elijah in the first reading. Will He speak to us in a whisper? In today’s Gospel, St. Peter, hears the Lord call him to come and join him on the water. He not only hears but he answers the call and steps out onto the water where he loses faith and begins to sink because he takes his eyes off the Lord. Yes, once we really hear the Lord we must keep our eyes on Him so that we do not sink also.
If we truly love the Lord and believe in Him with all our hearts He will call to us as He for did Elijah and Peter and He will invite us to come closer to Him so that He can fill our hearts with His love, then we will be able to spread his love to those who hear Him but do not listen since they don’t recognize His voice. Remember, St. Paul tells us, “Nobody can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit.” Come Holy Spirit.