In today’s Gospel, John 6: 16-21, we have the story of the
disciples, after a busy day in ministry, going down to the sea, getting into a
boat, and travelling across the sea to Capernaum. They do this in spite of the fact that it is
dark and a storm is ravaging the waters. They are out on the sea about 3-4
miles and see Jesus walking on the waters toward them. They are scared out of
their wits! Aware of their fear, Jesus says to them: “It is I. Do not be
afraid.”
Who is this man, they
must have been asking themselves? He’s walking on the rough sea and not
sinking! The disciples want to take
Jesus into the boat with them, but the “boat immediately arrived at the shore
to which they were heading.” “Immediately?” “Really,”
I ask. Did Jesus not only calm their fears but miraculously bring them
to the safety of the shore, I wonder.
Jesus shows us the face of our God: a God of mercy and
compassion, a God who is concerned about every detail of our life, a God who
knows when we are in “perilous waters,” a God who calms our fears—is aware, in
fact, when we are afraid and of what we
are afraid.
We may not see Jesus walking on the treacherous waters of
our lives, as these disciples did, but He, along with the Father and the
Spirit, is there. The Trinity is always
at our sides, walking along side us, dwelling within us, watching over us day
in and day out, throughout the “nights” of our lives. God is the light in that
darkness, the strength in our weaknesses, the courage in our fearsome moments,
the love in our less-loving moments, the forgiveness in our moments of
resentment, waiting to be recognized.
God waits, as, in Jesus He was waiting for the disciples in the boat to
see Him approaching them on the stormy waters.
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