Our situation in life often influences the medium through which we interact with God or experience God in our lives. I recall some years back when a woman came to me for advice because her relationship with her husband had deteriorated so badly that she believed their marriage was no longer salvageable. According to her, the splitting in half of the Eucharist on her palm as she picked it up to consume in a recent Eucharistic celebration sealed it for her that her marriage had suffered an irreparable damage.

Her interpretation of this incident was influenced by what was happening in her marriage. Supposing she was a happy expectant mother, she may have interpreted the splitting of the host as an indication that she may be having twins or merely a natural occurrence. The host had split because it cracked. Though not a frequent occurrence, host has split in my hand as I distributed Holy Communion.

In today’s Gospel (Mt 14:22-33), Jesus having fed the multitude, sent his disciples ahead of him to the other side of the secluded area while he dismissed the crowd. Having sent the people away, he went to the mountain to pray until night fall. Meanwhile, his disciples were in fear and shock because they were being battered by a strong headwind. While Jesus was walking towards them on the sea, he noticed their anxiety and perplexity. Their fear was compounded when they thought that Jesus was a ghost because he was walking on the sea. He tried to soothe their fears by saying to them, “Courage, it is I, do not be afraid.” However, it was only when Jesus stilled the sea and calmness returned to their sailing that they acknowledged the presence of God in their midst by bowing down and worshipping Jesus, for they could only discover God in the stillness of the waves just as Elijah in the first reading was only able to discover God in the gentle breeze.

At times, we may be experiencing turbulence, such as a chronic illness, a sudden death or betrayal in our lives or in our families, that we need a gentle breeze or the stillness of the waves to calm our fears. The psalmist said, “be still and know that I am God.” (Ps 46:10). In this context we need a God of hope, healing, forgiveness, and break-through.

At other times, we may need our spirit lifted and we would discover God in rowdy events. During the Jewish sojourn in the desert, as they travelled to the promised land from Egypt, they experienced God as God of Thunder, Earthquake, and Lightning at Mount Sinai. (Ex 19:14-22). The Jews needed to experience the might of God to believe that God could bring them to the promised land. Similarly, on the day of Pentecost, the frightened disciples of Jesus experienced the Holy Spirit as a hurricane and fire. (Acts 2:1-4).

God has been invoked as God of Power, God Almighty, Immutable God, God of Justice, God of Mercy and Compassion, God of Love, God of Peace, Avenging God, God of Majesty, Eternal Father, Everlasting God, God of Consolation, God of War, Omnipotent God, Omniscience God, King of Kings, I Am, Lion of Judah, Eternal Presence, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, God of Creation, Invincible God and Incarnate God (Emmanuel). A particular invocation of God may be more akin to our state in life at a time than another invocation.

For instance, those facing structural injustice or oppression will cry to God as a God of Justice, and those who are experiencing harmony and peace in their lives will thank a God of Love and Peace.