Wednesday after Epiphany, January 6, 2021

January 6 is the traditional date for the Feast of the Epiphany, but in the U.S. the feast is celebrated on the first Sunday after January 1.

Mark 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.

Out of compassion for the crowd of over five thousand people which had followed him away from the towns and into the rough country and spent the day listening to his teaching, the Lord Jesus performed a miracle in order to feed them.  He took the five loaves and two fish that the Apostles had and made so much food of these that twelve full baskets held the leftovers.  The Gospel reading for today’s Mass begins after the people have eaten.  St. Mark tells the full story of the Lord walking on the water, which St. John summarizes in chapter 6 of his Gospel.

“Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.”  After a day spent teaching the people and then feeding them, the Lord intended to spend the night alone in prayer and so he sends his disciples ahead.  Most likely they understood that he would have someone bring him in a boat later on.  It would be interesting to know what is meant by “he dismissed the crowd”.  Did he speak further to the people, or pray over them, or bless them?  We can only conjecture.

“And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray.”  This is a lesson for those of us who work long days and think to shorten or even omit our night prayers.  The Lord “went off to the mountain” in order to pray.  It was as if this was the main event of the day, that all he had done earlier simply led up to this time of communion with his Father.  He prays the whole night; he only goes out to the Apostles at the fourth watch of the night, which just precedes the dawn.  “He was alone on shore.”  What an evocative little phrase!  The Creator of all things stands alone before sunrise and looks out at the tiny boat against the horizon, perhaps dimly lit by a full moon.  The stars would have filled the sky above him, and he would have heard the water of the sea brush the sandy shore.  The wind would have whipped about the hem of his garment.  Far out in the sea, a squall blew up suddenly.  “Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them.”  Since the boat was still at sea after a full night, the Apostles must have been rowing right across it and not merely traveling down the coast a bit.  It is worth noting that Mark indicates that Jesus “saw” them.  This tells us that what he did next came in response to what he saw: “He came toward them walking on the sea.”  He  could have simply waited a little longer for light and then got a ride across in a boat.  Instead, he chose to walk “toward them”, wanting them to see him.  “He meant to pass by them.”  Perhaps the Lord explained this afterwards.  He showed himself walking on the water as a sign that they must persevere in the boat.  It is like a parent teaching her child to walk, giving space between her and the child so the child can see her, and desires to come to her, but the child must make its own unaided steps to do so.

“But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out.”  The child is not quite ready to walk, to put faith in its ability or in its mother’s plan, and so it cries out.  The ancient Jews did not, as a rule, believe in ghosts.  The idea of the ghosts of the dead walking among us, especially at night, comes from the Greeks, whose culture came to Galilee beginning with Alexander the Great.  Several of the Apostles had Greek names and also spoke Greek, for trading purposes.  Their belief that the figure of the Lord was a ghost tells us how shocked, even panic-stricken, they were at the sight: “They had all seen him and were terrified.”  

“But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” Through the deepest darkness of our night in this world, through the tumult of the winds of temptation, persecution, and fallen human nature, the Lord cries out to us, “Take courage, it is I!  Do not be afraid!”  “He got into the boat with them and the wind died down.”  The Lord’s very presence in our lives consoles us and strengthens us against evil.  Or, the winds may still rage, but we do not feel its affects because of the gift of faith the Lord gives to us. “They were completely astounded.”  They were stunned by the Lord walking on the water, and by the suddenness of the calm.  “They had not understood the incident of the loaves.”  The connection between the feeding of the people and the walking on the water seems abrupt, even forced, the way Mark writes.  St. Matthew, in his account of this event, tells how the Lord rebuked them for their lack of understanding.  What had they not understood?  In the feeding, Jesus multiplied more than enough food for everyone to get enough.  In fact, there was an enormous amount of food left over.  When Jesus gets into the boat, he did not help them to row, he calmed the sea and the boat reached land right away.  Jesus gives not merely sufficiently but overabundantly.  He shows overwhelming mercy: “pressed down and shaken together and running over” (Luke 6, 38).  It is a preparation for his Death on the Cross, when any little suffering he experienced would have more than made up for the sins of the world.  He does this to show us how much he loves us.

“Their hearts were hardened.”  That is, they lacked the capacity to understand what he had done, but not through ill-will.  Their faith and understanding would grow in time until they were able to show the Lord how much they loved him by laying down their lives for him.