The Readings
First Reading: 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a
And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eli′jah?"
And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. And when Eli′jah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Eli′jah?"
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
Yea, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.
Second Reading: Romans 9:1-5
I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed for ever. Amen.
Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33
Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."
And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Scriptural Analysis
Elijah At Horeb: The Wind That Is Not God
The lectionary hands you a fragment, so put it back in the chapter first. Elijah has just won on Carmel and run for his life from Jezebel. He goes a day into the wilderness, sits under a broom tree, and asks to die (1 Kings 19:4). An angel feeds him twice, and on the strength of that food he walks forty days and forty nights to Horeb (1 Kings 19:8). Forty days, the mountain of the Law, a man who wants out. Moses stands behind every line of it, and the Catechism reads the scene exactly that way: Elijah, like Moses before him, hides in a cleft of the rock until the presence of God has passed by, and only on Tabor will the two of them see the face they were looking for.[1]
God's question, asked twice, before and after the theophany, is a question rather than a rebuke: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He gives the same answer both times. Ephrem the Syrian noticed that and refused to soften it. Elijah wrapped his face because he judged the creature unworthy to look at the Creator, and yet, having been shown the gentleness of his Lord, he did not budge from his first severity. He rose against the sinners again and complained about the sons of his people.[2] Ephrem reads the whole display, the wind splitting mountains, the earthquake, the fire, as God instructing the prophet through figures to correct an excessive zeal and teach him to imitate a providence that runs its justice through mercy.[3]
Irenaeus pushes the same reading toward Christ. The prophet, crushed by the transgression of the people and the murder of the prophets, learns to work with greater calm; and in that quiet after the wind, the coming of the Lord in human form is signified, a reign in which the bent reed is not crushed and the flickering flame is not quenched.[4] Keep that in front of you, because it saves the passage from collapsing into a devotional cliché about listening for a whisper. Horeb is about a God who has bound himself to come in a way that leaves the mountain standing and the prophet alive.
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