In today's gospel, Mark 6:45-52, Jesus sent the disciples out on the sea to precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida." He stayed behind to dismiss the crowd of 5000 people whom he had fed with five loaves and two fish. After dismissing the crowd, Jesus went up the mountain to pray. At evening time, he noticed that the disciples were in danger, as a storm was plummeting the boat. "About the fourth watch of the night (around 3 a.m.), he came toward them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, 'Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!' He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. ..."
As attentive as Jesus was to his disciples when he walked here on earth, so, too, is he attentive of us today. He knows when we are hungry and wandering around "shepherdless" and feeds us with whatever food we need--spiritual or physical. He knows when the "boat" of our lives are being tossed around by life's turbulent storms and we are in danger, spiritually or physically or emotionally. And He makes Himself present to us. If we do not call upon Him, He will, as He intended to do with His disciples on the stormy sea, pass us by. Do we not recognize Him, as the disciples did not, thinking He was a ghost? For what reasons do we dismiss Jesus? Or, does Jesus' presence frighten us, as He did the disciples on the turbulent sea? Jesus knows when we are scared out of our wits, so to speak, and He whispers: "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!" When He gets into the "boat" of our lives, the storms die down. A calm comes over us when we allow Jesus to address stormy situations with us.
Do you, do I, invite Jesus into our "boats"? Do you, do I, discuss stormy situations with Jesus and seek His advice, rely upon His help to see us through the storm, and to protect us from danger? Jesus is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow!
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