19th Sunday, Ordinary Time, Year A, The Whisper of God

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Mathew 14, 22-33 (The Whisper of God), 19th Sunday, Ordinary Time, year A. August 7, 2011. English Translation of the Portuguese Homily delivered in my grandparent’s village on the 100th anniversary of their departure for the United States. [Raminho, Island of Terceira, Portugal (Azores)]

Focus: The Whisper of God.

Objective: To remind hearers to listen for and to the whisper of God.

  1. Introduction
  2. Good morning. My name is Friar David Orique, I am a member of the Dominican Order, also known as the Order of Preachers. I am a native of California, but currently live in Providence, Rhode Island, where I am a professor of Humanities at a Catholic university.
  3. I am visiting this island replete with natural beauty and family history to celebrate Mass in honor of my paternal grandparents: Francisco Correia Orique and Maria Balbina Orique, who departed from Raminho to the United States one hundred years ago. (Not to mention the many others who emigrated from the Azores.) I am the cousin of Fatima Franco and her family.
  4. Eleven years ago, as a seminarian, I visited Raminho for the first time. During that visit, I thought of returning as a priest to celebrate Mass on the anniversary of their departure to honor them, naturally in Portuguese. As such, I am very grateful to celebrate Mass in their memory.
  5. I wish to thank Father Francisco Alves for allowing me to celebrate Mass. I wish to thank Fatima Franco and her family, especially Amy for helping me with various details. Also, I wish to thank in particular Professor Jose Rosa, my adopted uncle, who helped me translate this homily and who has been an excellent Portuguese professor. I am very proud to celebrate Mass in the beautiful language of my ancestors.
  6. During my first visit to Raminho, I believe that I heard the tiny whispers of my grandparents. I heard their whispers in the waves of the ocean, in the gentle breezes, in the golden sunsets, but especially in sound of the impressive language of Portuguese. Perhaps, those whispers that I believe I heard were really tiny whispers from God.
  7. The Whispers from God
  8. In the first reading, Elijah heard the voice of God speak to him in “a tiny whispering sound.” Frequently, the voice of God is a gentle whisper. Yet to hear God’s voice, we need to listen. As Christians, each day some silence is important—silence to listen for and to God’s voice. However, often, some silence is difficult to find because of unnecessary distractions and unfruitful worries. As such, at times, hearing the voice of God’s whisper might be difficult. Nevertheless, in moments of silence, where might we hear the tiny whisper of God?
  9. The whisper of God speaks to us when we read the Scriptures, when we celebrate the Sacraments, especially Mass, when we pray, and when we render service to our neighbor. God’s whisper speaks to our soul or our conscience, that intimate place of encounter between God and us. When we listen for God’s voice, we begin to hear what God wants to proclaim to us and what we are to proclaim to others.
  10. In the responsorial Psalm, the psalmist proclaims, “I will hear what God proclaims.” To hear what God proclaims requires listening for and to the tiny whisper of God daily, in the sacred and the secular events as well as in the extraordinary and the ordinary moments. As Christians, the most important proclamation of our faith is that God loves us and we are to love others; this is the essential truth of our Christian faith. As God proclaims this truth to us, we are to proclaim this truth to all people in action, word, and deed.
  11. In the second reading, Saint Paul says, “I speak the truth in Christ.” As we listen for and to the whisper of God, we can speak the truth of Christ, the Gospel, the Good News to others. The Good News is that God is a God of life and love and that all are called to a fuller life now as we prepare for the fullness of life in heaven. Yet, sometimes we fear God or we are afraid to proclaim, to speak the truth of the Gospel.
  12. In the Gospel, Jesus said to His disciples, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Likely my grandparents’ journey was a fearful and difficult trip; probable their boat was tossed about by waves and buffeted by wind. Yet, they were Christians. They handed down their Christian faith to my family. If not for their faith, I doubt that I would be a priest today. Seemingly, they listened to the whisper of God, hearing the voice of Jesus telling them to “take courage; it is I; do not be afraid.”
  13. We are all like my grandparents. We are all like those disciples. At times, we are afraid. Yet, when we listen for and to the tiny whisper of God in the voice of Jesus, we take courage, it is He; we are not afraid, but filled with faith. We are a people of faith not creatures of fear. As such, wherever the Lord leads us, we take courage that Jesus is with us, that Jesus is in us.
  1. Conclusion

In conclusion, today we remember my grandparents and many other immigrants of the past and of today; those who immigrated and immigrate out of necessity. We also remember those who have “immigrated” to heaven. As such, as we celebrate Mass, we listen for and to the tiny whisper of God that says, do not be afraid, proclaim the Good News of the Jesus Christ to all people in word, action, and deed.