Wednesday after Epiphany

1.1John4:7-10

Gospel: Mark6:34-44

"The walking on the water"

Dear brothers and sisters, in our today's gospel we are told about Jesus' disciples struggling against a strong wind while Jesus was in the mountain alone praying to God after He dismissed the crowd. Actually one interpretation is that this Christian community of disciples is in the boat of the Church struggling against the wind of the darkness of sin, abandonment, of God's absence when being in trouble.

It is practical example in our lives we Christians believers that in a moment like this stormy weather of our faith God is absent, silent, far away and prayers seem not heard. However, in our gospel today, Jesus is telling us that this is the test of our faith; to have a faith that is ready to trust because even in those dark moments God knows what we are going through; that he is near to us and He is not a ghost. So the first thing that we should do is to pray. And we should know that:

First, Jesus goes off to pray. After the stunning multiplication of the five loaves and two fishes, Jesus has a sublime lesson to teach us that all apostolic works are built upon and sustained that strong weapon, prayer. Jesus purposely goes to pray instead of resting after the fatigue of the day instead of resting simply because, He talks to his Father and tell Him all about His day: the crowd, the miracle, His hope in the apostles growing faith. His Father is His source of strength. His Father's will is His roadmap especially. What is our attitude at the end of the day?

Second, Jesus is so responsive to prayer no matter how imperfect our prayer is. Like for example, the disciples cried out in fear, thinking they were seeing a ghost. Jesus responds even to their fear and reassures them of his presence and protection. St. Mark the evangelist adds that,' the wind died down when He got into the boat,"(v.51). His presence in our lives calms our fears but we need to call out to be heard not so much to get His attention as to recognize our need since He will not force Himself on us. Do we expect Him to bless what we do without us crying out to him in our actions like: trying to do His work, saying a kind word, restraining our impatience and pride etc.....?

Let's reflect the words of St. Augustine. He said: " He came treading the waves; and so he puts all the swelling tumults of life under his feet. Christians- why be afraid?" Walking with Christ permits us to conquer the waves which overwhelm us. The conquering Christ reminds us that no evil is stronger than He that there is no sin or temptation that cannot be put behind us and that there is no setback in health or business or disappointment in a loved one that cannot ultimately become a new good when we walk in cadence with Christ.