Courage! It is I!

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

Does God continue to manifest Himself to us? I guess many of you would agree that He does but you would also personally desire for an opportunity to witness this with your own eyes rather than rely on second-hand hearsay information. This explains why shrines associated with apparitions or any rumours thereof are often the most popular crowd pullers. We Catholics want a faith that is tangible, sensible and visible. It’s part of our human nature as sensible beings rather than purely spiritual beings like the angels.

Today’s readings provide us with glimpses into the way God communicates with us. In the first reading, we see the prophet Elijah witnessing a theophany of God which seems to be anticlimactic. After the dramatic phenomena of a strong wind, an earthquake followed by a fire, God reveals Himself in “the sound of a gentle breeze,” literally “the sound of silence”. Notice the venue. Mount Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai where Moses and the Israelites who had just escaped slavery in Egypt encountered God in this terrifying theophany of dark clouds, lightning, fire and earthquake. The two figures encountering God in two different ways is meant to be a stark contrast. God would not be confined to any form or expectation of ours. He is indeed the God of surprises, who deliberately reveals Himself to us in the most unexpected ways - sometimes in extraordinary ways but more often than not in the ordinary experiences of life. It is no wonder that both figures, Elijah and Moses would appear again at the scene of the Transfiguration - the manifestation of God not in the wind, nor earthquake, nor fire, nor even a gentle breeze, but in the person of Jesus Christ, the Beloved Son of God.

In the gospel, the scene of our Lord walking on water is another theophany, a visible manifestation of God, and not just a demonstration of Jesus’ miraculous powers. In fact, it is no exaggeration that the theophany experienced by the disciples was far greater than any recorded in the Old Testament, and even such a theophany would be surpassed by the Transfiguration of our Lord whose feast we will celebrate in just a few weeks.

The story uses two powerful signs to show Jesus is God.

Firstly, our Lord’s striding on the waves is an allusion to how God is described anthropomorphically as walking on the stormy sea (Job 9:8). But it also reminds us of how God imposes His creative will on the waters of chaos in Genesis Chapter 1, setting boundaries and bringing order to this destructive and unpredictable force of nature. But the Lord who created the heavens and earth is also the Lord who saves His people during the Exodus. In the first exodus, God walked through the sea, leading His people to safety and freedom. Our Lord in this gospel scene is the divine Saviour who brings the long-anticipated salvation of a new exodus. This chapter looks back on the first exodus as the precedent for a new, future exodus when the Lord would climactically redeem His people. Now, He leads us through the waters of baptism to a new life of grace and the Holy Spirit.

But the second and most important theme is that the story dispels any doubt about our Lord’s identity. To assuage the fear and panic of His disciples, the Lord announces: “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” The original Greek phrase for "It is I" is literally "I AM". This is the holy name of God that He revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). This is at the heart of every revelation from God, it is not just merely the communication of some information but rather an invitation to enter into communion with Him. For how could we possibly come to love someone whom we do not know? That is why the answer to the second question of the penny catechism follows a logical progression from knowledge to union. To the question, “why did God make us?”, comes the answer, “to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him and be with Him in paradise forever.”

How about us today? Wanting to experience manifestations from the divine is understandable. We live in a world filled with noise, always seeking the next breaking news alert or dramatic sign. There is an existential human desire perennially looking for answers. This is why for people of faith, it is natural to want a direct, personal sign from God to prove He is listening. And this desire often draws us to private revelations—prophecies, visions, and apparitions.

It is here that we need to make a distinction between public and private revelation. For us Catholics, public revelation which is contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition ended with the death of the last Apostle. God has already spoken completely and sufficiently, providing us with whatever is necessary for our salvation. Jesus Christ is the ultimate, final Word of the Father. As the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, "In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways... but in these last days, he spoke to us through a son." And because public revelation is complete, no new visionary, message, or private revelation can ever add to, change, or correct the Deposit of Faith left by Christ and the Apostles.

So, what should we make of private revelations, especially those approved by the Church like our Lady’s apparitions and messages in Lourdes and Fatima and elsewhere? Are we to just dismiss these as unnecessary? Although belief in these messages is not necessary for our salvation, they are meant to augment and excite our faith and so motivate us to have a greater determination to follow Christ and His teachings. It is a help which is offered, but which one is not obliged to use. “Private revelations” do not add to or complete God’s definitive revelation in Christ but are meant to help believers live more fully by the Gospel. The criterion for judging the truth of a private revelation, therefore, is precisely its orientation to Christ Himself. If it leads us away from Him, then it certainly does not come from the Holy Spirit, who guides us more deeply into the Gospel, and not away from it. A word of caution - we must get our priorities right. It is not spiritually good to centre one's life around private revelations. They are good when approved, and may be used, but the core is in public revelation.

So, the next time you read or hear about some new private revelation whether it is in the form of some vision or apparition or miracle, do not be so quick to forget that you already have the true treasure which is Christ found in Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. Don’t let yourself be distracted and misled to place these extraordinary occurrences above what our Lord now communicates to us in ordinary ways, when we listen to the Word of God, read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and participate in the sacraments, especially in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Remember, God is not only to be found in the extraordinary circumstances like the wind, an earthquake, a raging fire or a vision, nor is He only to be found striding across the waters as He once did, but He often manifests Himself most intimately when He sits quietly invisibly in the boat, the Church, by your side, as you weather the storms of life. And in the hull of the boat, the bosom of the Church, you will hear Him speak again: “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.”