A MARINE’S STORY - HOMILY REFLECTION – 19TH SUNDAY – ORDINARY TIME

Brothers and Sisters, I am so happy to be able to bring the homily reflection today. God brought me a story & I knew I was to share it with you.   

It is the story of a young man who joined the Marines right out of high school.  Our hero’s name is Hal. Hal knows Jesus and went into the military to go to school afterward to become a minster.  

Hal was sent to Afghanistan.  He is a decorated soldier; He has been in fire fights and has seen the face of the person trying to kill him.  

When you ask him about his experience in Afghanistan, this is what he shares:   

Hal was assigned with three other Marines to stand on top of a building & observe – looking for things different than normal, people who were out of place or unusual events and taking notes and sounding the alarm if necessary. This duty was for 24 hours straight; then, the marines would be relieved to eat and rest.

Hal said the three other young men were having a hard time. One young man’s father had died. It was very dishearting for him being away from his mother and siblings. The second young man was having trouble with the expereinces of battle.  He was depressed and guilty.  The third young man received a “Dear John Letter.”  His wife said she didn’t love him and had found someone else. She asked for a divorce. 

The only way that Hal knew to help his friends was praying with them. So they prayed together at the end of each duty. They prayed for strength, guidance, and for peace in the fear and chaos they were living.

The duty they were assigned was miserable.  They stood in full uniform in 110 degree heat or hotter; they could not take off any protective equipment, or jackets, helmets, or gloves. They could not sit down. His duty officer would even punish them for lifting the goggles to wipe the sweat from their eyes.

At the end of the duty shift, the Marines knees would be swollen and stiff; it was painful to climb down the stairs from the roof. They would be hungry, dehydrated, tired and drained.  After eating, the friends would come together to pray. 

One evening after they had gone to bed, because of his pain, Hal couldn’t sleep; he lay there in despair, praying cried out to God. “Why am I here? Why am I suffering? What purpose is all of this? What did I do to deserve this?”

Does anyone remember that Today’s Psalm says – God proclaims PEACE?  A voice, clear like someone standing next to him said “Look at your fiends, you are here for them.”  God answered Hal.

Hal sat up and looked around. “Did Anybody else hear someone speak?” Nobody did.

In the Gospel, Jesus puts his apostles in a boat at night and sends them off. In the boat with waves, wind, and dark the apostles faced fear. They struggled in the storm without Jesus; so afraid that they cried out.

Many of us live in fear and troubles realized by uncertainty:  Our jobs, family responsibilities, bills, illness, and deaths. Some of us have faced the fear and chaos of war and violence. 

Human life is a drama of fear and trouble. We go through it in the little boats of our lives; either alone or with those close to us. And sometimes because of the world or our own stubborness and pride, we do this without Jesus.

Elijah saw the strong wind, earthquake, and fire – noise and chaos; but, God stilled them when he came in the whisper. We live in a world where all the noise of the world, does not let us hear God speaking to us.

The disciple’s were so afraid they thought they saw a ghost.  The storm was throwing the boat around and in the middle of the storm; Jesus came walking on the waters.  Jesus didn’t quiet the sea; he didn’t quiet them when Peter tried to come to him. Jesus came to them in their fear.  At frst the disciples saw a ghost, the disciples saw only their fear, and they didn’t see Jesus.

This is the same in our lives.  Too many times all we see are our Ghosts.  No faith, only our fears and torubles - the strong wind, waves, earthquakes and fire. We lose sight of God. We don’t hear him. We don’t see him in our lives.  We only see ghosts and the storm.

But, faith is not found in ghosts; Faith is found in Jesus words; It is I; or more correctly translated: I am.

Jesus is real, Christ is alive, and Jesus Christ is our salvation, our redeemer, and our strength. In Jesus we are able to face the fears and chaos of life. He comes reaches out for us and pulls us to his saving love.

Ask Hal! Ask Me!  This is our faith that we are to witness. Jump out of the boat like Peter and go to Jesus.

Even the strongest can stumble; our fears can get the best of us, our troubles pull us down. But Jesus doesn’t leave us; He comes in the storm, catches us, pulls us back up and then gets in the boat with us to calm our fears and the chaos.

The young Marines were all in the boat; being tossed about in the fear & chaos and that surronded them.  Hal knew that Jesus was walking on the water towards them. Hal jumped out of the boat and ran to Jesus.  he did this in the prayers with his friends.  He fell in his doubts, fears, & troubles. Hal stumbled in the despair of his situation. Jesus reached out his hand and pulled him back, calmed his fears, and got in the boat.

This story was about a young marine.  But if we change the situation and circumstances; it could be any of our lives. 

Our relationship with God in Jesus Christ is our faith. It is in faith we pray and God speaks to us; It is in our faith that we ask Jesus to come to us.

Answering our prayers, God speaks to us in the quiet of our hearts.  Or maybe, like Peter or Hal or even some of us, Jesus comes with a strong hand, grabs us & pulls us back up. 

One thing to take away from the Gospel is that our storms may be long and hard & Our storms don’t always end right away.  But, there is always one greater than us with us when we fear and doubt. It is the one who is here when we are in trouble brings peace.

Jesus Christ is here. Christ is waiting on you to believe in Him. He is waiting to change your life to bring us peace.  Leave the boat and come to him.