When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea,
embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum.
It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.
When they had rowed about three or four miles,
they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat,
and they began to be afraid.
But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”
They wanted to take him into the boat,
but the boat immediately arrived at the shore
to which they were heading.
REFLECTION
“It is I. Do not be afraid.”
Sometimes we get the wrong impression of someone. Either they are brusque in their way of speaking to us, too demanding or easily upset when we disobey or don't understand them. We tend to remember the worst and don't try to find the good in them. I was scared of God of the Old Testament. He seemed to me to be always angry and demanding.
In my defense, I was immature in my understanding of God. “It is I. Do not be afraid.”
My mother would be very upset with us when we continued to misbehave and would not listen to her. We knew what was going to happen when we heard, "Just wait, I am going to get the orange tree branch". We would start planning our escape, as soon as we heard this line. In fact, we probably hid her stool knowing that she would need it. We never waited for the "switch", we ran....We feared her but never were scared or afraid. By the time we got home, we apologized and she would have dinner for us. We knew she loved us. As we loved her. We would try and avoid that which got her upset.
As any good parent, God admonishes us and allows consequences to our sins.
God's desire is that all should be saved and know The Truth. He sent His only Son to heal the sick, preach the Good News, reconcile man and God and mediate between His Father and His creation. He was 100% human and 100% divine. That is indeed a mystery.
This remarkable salvation was foretold in the Old Testament. God has not changed and will never change. He is the same. By dying He destroyed death and restored our life. He loves us individually. We fear the Lord, we respect and hold Him in reverence. But we are not afraid of Him.
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