2023 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Kaity's Story

Deacon Tim's Homily from the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time on August 13, 2023.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:01

Reading from the first book of Kings. At the mountain of God orb, Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter. Then the Lord said to him, go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord. The Lord will be passing by. A strong and heavy wind was renting the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. The word of the Lord yours we'll hear what God proclaims the Lord for He proclaims me he's near indeed is his salvation to those who fear Laurie dwelling in kindness and truth show me just this Sunday show kisses. Truth show sprang out of the just the show look down from heaven. See your lawyer himself I'll give his benefit. Let's show you this increase. Justice shall walk before him and prepare the way off his. A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans. Brothers and sisters, I speak the truth in Christ. I do not lie. My conscience joins with the Holy Spirit and bearing me witness that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ. For the sake of my people, my kindred according to the flesh. They are Israelites. There's the adoption, the glory, the Covenant, the giving of the Law, the worship and the promises. There's the patriarchs and from them, according to the flesh is the Christ who was overall God blesses forever. Amen. The word of the Lord My. Way wait for my soul waits for his

Tim Stout: 5:41

The Lord be with you. A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew. After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When it was evening, he was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. It is a ghost they said, and they cried out in fear at once Jesus spoke to them. Take courage, it is I do not be afraid. Peter said to Him and reply, Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water. He said, Come. Peter, got out of the boat, and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was, he became frightened. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter and said to him, Oh, you of little faith. Why? Why did you doubt? After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, truly, you are the Son of God? The Gospel of the Lord? Oh, you have little faith? Why did you doubt? It's a great question, not just repeat her but for us today. You see, the scriptures today are all about finding God, seeing God, not where we expect to find him. Not where we want to see him. But where God wants us to find him. Experience him and experience His love. Even in the midst of fear and doubt that can consume us in this world. How many of us can relate to Peter knowing, thinking and feeling that our faith is so strong? That we can walk on water? Or how about Elijah in the first reading, where we hear that God is not how most people expect him in the powerful wind, in the hot fire, or in the earthquake, but in the whisper the scripture readings about faith and about how we encounter God and how we experience Him are front and center for us today. And when Peter is one of the main characters, we're know they're going to be mistakes, struggles, and things aren't just going to go the way Peter wanted them to go. And maybe even how we want them to go in our lives. For me, Peter is very easy to relate to. If we were charting his faith throughout all the scriptures, it would be like an EKG line up and down, up and down. I can relate to that. Can you? Are there times where your faith was challenged? Or fear made you doubt God was with you? I think most of us have those struggles. When we question our faith or we doubt God and His plan. And God knows this. And that is when we see the power of God. That's never been more evident in my life than in the last few weeks. Our family has experienced the highest highs As and the lowest lows just a little over a month ago on July 12. My wife Kelly and I were sitting on the couch and her phone rang. It was a call from our daughter. She was on the phone so she didn't answer. So my phone rang and I don't know about how your family is. But if mom's phone rang, and nobody answered dad's phone rings, and you need to answer it, something's going on. And it's one of those phone calls. That's a life changing event, and not necessarily for us. But for them. It went something like this mom and dad, were pregnant. Baby number four, to go with a five year old, a three year old, and a one year old. All boys. Whoa. We get off the phone and we're just sitting there smiling at each other. Little shocked. Happy. Who doesn't love babies? We're smiling. We're cutting up. We're thinking to ourselves, they're gonna be busy. And we know their faith is strong, but we know that it's going to be test. All the while in the back of our minds praying for a healthy baby after our last grandson was born with a cleft palate, healthy baby. And maybe in the very back of our mind and back corner somewhere way back here hoping that it's a girl. Couple of weeks later, Kelly and I are literally walking on the water. We're on a boat in the ocean. As part of a work trip. We're having fun. We're cutting up and we get a text. It's a girl. I love those early tests. Pink border, it's a girl. Game on. We're happy, happy dances everywhere. God is good. What a blessing. July 29. The next day, we're literally still flying high. We're on a plane. We're coming home. And you know today, you can get your text messages on a plane. And I get a text from Katie. She says don't worry. I'm in the UK ER with a bum leg. Swollen, very weak. And I don't think much about it. She kind of discounts it a little bit. She tells me it's maybe pinched nerve or a blood clot or something we both think. No worries, it'll get fixed up. We land in Atlanta, and we're walking actually we're running because we're trying to catch an earlier flight. And my phone rings. And it's Katie. And she says, Dad, what are you doing? So I'm trying to get on this plane. I want to get home early. She says, Okay, call me back when you can. And I say Katie, it sounds like you're crying what's, what's wrong? What's going on? And then I heard the words that no parent ever wants to hear that I have a brain tumor. Right there, in the middle of the Atlanta airport, Kelly started to drown in the ocean of life. pregnant with a baby girl and a brain tumor. Come on God. What are you doing? What's the plan? God? Why is this happening? And then I remember I'm supposed to be the source of strength and hope. I'm a deacon, I gotta take a deep breath. I have to focus. And I got to get us home as quick as possible. Also remember saying this to Katie. So Katie, you are a woman of great faith. Now is a time to live that faith. All the while I was saying those words. I was scared to death. I was afraid I was even a little mad. Maybe a lot mad at God. Why is this happening to Katie? And, you know, fear. Fear seems to entrench itself in our minds, when we are in danger of losing something or someone, especially someone that has been so reliable to us in our lives so dear to us. But that threat of loss, it is a call across troubled waters, that sinking feeling that you get right here. When you hear those words with bad news. It is our recognition that we are unable to walk the waters of life on our own. And it is during these times that the hand of God is most visible. Some people will call it Support. Others we'll call it family and friends. But those of us with faith, we know that it is God's hand that guides us. Even while we struggle with fear, even while we struggle to answer the question, why? And our faith during these times it becomes visible and obscure places like hospital rooms, or waiting rooms or driveways. We are scared and we are afraid and unsure. But we move forward. All while trying to remember that fear. Fear is not a sign of cowardice. It's not. It's an invitation, it is an invitation to admit that we are wondrously dependent. And what are we dependent on? On a cross, a historical sign of torture and death, we not only look at the cross, we move towards it, not knowing the path. But knowing the destination, we move towards Jesus, we move towards his eternal love. And it is here it is here when Jesus whispers in our ears, do not be afraid. He tells us this over and over and over through Scripture. He tells us to trust in him. And he tells us He loves us. And it's here in the presence of that love that we come face to face with God present in this world. physically present in our lives, in our family and our friends and the people we encounter in times of trouble, anxiety and fear. You know, in our family situation, fast forwarding to today, so much more has happened. The tumor has been removed. We know what type of cancer it is. We know that we can both fight the cancer and save the baby. Something a surgeon told us was impossible just 10 days ago. Katie is undergoing intense therapy at Cardinal Hill trying to rain use of her right side and improve her cognition ability. So the road for will be challenging. And here's the important part. We have also seen the face of God in so many places. First, in the fact that she's pregnant, a gift that most likely saved Katie's life. Because without that baby girl, we may not have found that tumor in time. At the airport, we're trying to get home as quickly as we can we get to that gate and he sees the meltdown. But he also says I can't get you on that flight. It's full. Five minutes later, we're on the plane on the way home. The face of God is everywhere in the middle of a six hour surgery. Kelly and I go look for a chapel at UK hospital. It's a big hospital. We can't find the chapel. But we found father out to Giacomo walking around. always smiles if you know father Ali always has a smile on his face. He gave us a hug and prayed with us. We decided we're gonna go get something to eat since we couldn't find the chapel and we run into father Richard Watson. He helped bring Andrew into the church a few years ago. He had this he prayed with us. We see the face of God everywhere. And friends that are doctors and nurses that help us understand the maze that is healthcare in our pastor father Lin, who assures us that God is with us, and that God is in control. When we feel like we have no idea what's happening. We see God and friends who help us get from point A to point B with more food than we should be eating. But with plenty of hugs, plenty of tears and laughter and maybe even cold beer. The hands of Jesus are everywhere. But most of all, they're in the countless prayers from our friends from strangers that we don't even know from all over this country asking God to look out for Katie and Andrew, their three boys and the baby and all of us. And this display of faith and prayers over the last few weeks has been the greatest display of God's power of God's love that we have ever experienced. It has been truly extraordinary. So I say thank you. I thank God. I thank him for you. For people we don't even know but I also asked you to continue to pray for Katie and her Baby and all of us. But I also asked you to stop and do the same for others. There are a lot of crisis's in people's lives now, people you know, people you don't know. And you know, when somebody walks up to you and says, Hey, would you put so and so on your Prayerless do it, it means something. Take that extra minute, find out the details and pray for them. And if you can help in other ways, do it. You won't be sorry. But do it because it's our calling in life. We're called as Christians to be like Jesus, to be the hands of God, to be the hands of Jesus to love one another unconditionally. And remember this, we are called to love each other. Because through love, we conquer fear. And our God knows when we are afraid, he knows when our faith is being challenged. And it is then that he extends his hand. He extends his hand to us during those times. Just like when Jesus extended his hand a Peter on the water. It may look different. It might look like Linda or Scott or Henry or Bob or father Lynn or Deacon Dallas, it may look different. But make no mistake, it is God's hand. And through that hand, through that love, we move through fear. And then we found ourselves on solid ground we found ourselves back in the boat. And when the storm has passed, and it will pass and the hand of Jesus has pulled us through. We too can recognize just like the disciples on that boat. That God is truly with us.