Jesus walks on water

Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Mark (6: 45-52) in which Jesus tells his disciples, “Courage! It is I; do not be afraid”.

Fr Paul says, like yesterday, we can read this Gospel two ways. One is that the disciples still do not fully trust Jesus. They think he is uncaring, unconcerned because he was going to walk on by when they were in trouble. We can think that the disciples had no confidence in Jesus until he effortlessly calms the storm; then they can’t believe it – who is this? At a deeper, however, the disciples cry out in their need and they are rescued. They rejoice then because of the calm.

For our reflection today, Fr Paul says, we might be aware that we, too, can lose confidence and trust in Jesus at times. We, too, can fail to believe that he can help us or rescue us. Just as the disciples give us the example, we must always remember that we can cry out to God, place our needs before him and ask for God’s assistance and, as we hear in the Gospel, assistance will be given in some way, shape or form.