Have you ever just needed to get away for some quiet time? Are you ever completely exhausted the Monday after an excellent retreat? Did the chaos of the holidays make you want to sleep for days? Today’s gospel begins in a similar vein. After five thousand people were miraculously fed and satisfied, Jesus needed to go away and pray. Rest is such an important element for our spiritual well being and we need it to process the workings of God in our lives. We need to remove ourselves every now and then to get perspective, to breathe, to waste time with God, to clear our minds, and to let what we have experienced sink into our hearts. Jesus shows us the importance of this. While he was praying and processing the most spectacular miracle as of yet in his ministry, his boys went right back to work out on the sea. They left God behind, alone on the shore, and went about their business without letting the awe and wonder of the miraculous sink into their hearts, and the seas began to churn. It says the winds were against them as they rowed. Raise your hand if you have ever felt like you were rowing against the wind in your spiritual life. They had just witnessed glory and they remained unchanged. They had just seen the impossible and they chose to go back to their old ways. This makes my heart ache because it resonates in my own life. How many times have I witnessed glory and not allowed it to change my heart?
Jesus felt compelled to step out onto their churning stormy ugly sea and move toward them. It says he meant to pass them by, which is such an interesting detail that I still need to ponder. Jesus comes to us when we are rowing against the wind, when life tosses us around, and when the darkness consumes us. Perhaps he knew that when they saw him they would be terrified and so he wanted to just pass by unnoticed knowing that just his presence would calm the storm. Sometimes God’s presence is more subtle than at other times, but it doesn’t mean He isn’t there working. When they saw someone walking on the water, they freaked out, of course! A lot of times I see Jesus coming and it terrifies me because I know that something needs to change in me and I was just minding my own business before! Before they start jumping overboard, Jesus says, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” He says the very same words to us, “Don’t worry, it’s me, be brave.” He stepped into the boat and the wind died down. He steps into my churning mind, my broken heart, my ugly circumstance, my stormy relationship, my darkest hour, and peace immediately settles in. If I let the terror and the fear consume me while the seas are stirred up, if I jump ship before Jesus comes in to save me, if I don’t recognize him drawing close to me, and if I don’t welcome him into the ugliest parts of my life, then I don’t get to experience peace. “Peace is not the absence of chaos, it is the presence of someone…Jesus.” (Bill Johnson) They were completely astounded because they had not yet developed their expectation for the miraculous. It says that they did not understand the incident with the loaves and that their hearts were hardened.
A relationship with Christ grows us in recognizing and expecting the supernatural to break into our natural world. The disciples had not yet matured in this realm and so everything just frightened and confused them. This is why spending time in His presence through prayer and quiet time is so vital so that we can recognized the miraculous and His showing up on the waters as the presence of peace and not something to be afraid of. Wow. I feel like today got deep. The ocean of our hearts is deep, but the depth of God’s love for us is deeper, friends. We need to ponder and pray about the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we don’t freak out when he shows up on the scene. We need to have soft hearts to receive all that he is teaching and showing us. We need to take courage so that Jesus can give us peace even in the storms, and it is well with my soul.
Reading 1 1 JN 4:11-18
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
In this is love brought to perfection among us,
that we have confidence on the day of judgment
because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
In this is love brought to perfection among us,
that we have confidence on the day of judgment
because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
Responsorial Psalm PS 72:1-2, 10, 12-13
R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Alleluia SEE 1 TM 3:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to you, O Christ, proclaimed to the Gentiles.
Glory to you, O Christ, believed in throughout the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to you, O Christ, proclaimed to the Gentiles.
Glory to you, O Christ, believed in throughout the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MK 6:45-52
After the five thousand had eaten and were satisfied,
Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd.
And when he had taken leave of them,
he went off to the mountain to pray.
When it was evening,
the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore.
Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing,
for the wind was against them.
About the fourth watch of the night,
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.
They were completely astounded.
They had not understood the incident of the loaves.
On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd.
And when he had taken leave of them,
he went off to the mountain to pray.
When it was evening,
the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore.
Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing,
for the wind was against them.
About the fourth watch of the night,
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.
They were completely astounded.
They had not understood the incident of the loaves.
On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
Just what I needed today, awesome Jen!
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