Reflection for Wednesday, Jan. 5
Resurrected Christ, liturgical banner, painted canvas by Br. Michael Moran, C.P.
Today’s Gospel picks up after Mark’s account of the feeding of the five thousand. In it we’re told that the disciples didn’t understand what this miracle was saying about Jesus. They were short-sighted, “hard of heart,” as the Gospel puts it.
When we read in our Gospel that Jesus was praying alone after sending the disciples on the boat to Bethsaida, I like to think he was praying about the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, and how to show the disciples that he is the Son of God and has divine power; in other words, to give them an epiphany. So, Jesus gives them a rather dramatic nudge. He walks toward them on the waters, and they think He’s a ghost. He says to them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.” They are astounded—they finally get it.
Oftentimes we, like the disciples, don’t get it, are hard of heart. I think we, like Jesus, have to take time regularly and “go to the mountain and pray.” We have to be open to getting a little nudge from Jesus, to open ourselves to the truth that Jesus is strong enough to set us on the path He intends for us.
Br. Michael Moran, C.P