The risk of drowning

(Mt 14:22-36)

 

Some other providence, which you do not know

 

"It is good not to fall, or to fall and get up again. And if you do fall, it is good not to despair and not to become estranged from the love that the Sovereign has for man. For if he wishes, he can show mercy to our weakness. Let us only not stray from him, let us not feel distressed if we are constrained by the commandments, and let us not be disheartened if we achieve nothing (...).

We must neither be hasty nor give up, but always start again (...).

Wait for him, and he will show you mercy, either through conversion, through trials, or through some other providence that you do not know.

(Peter Damascene, Book Two, Eighth Discourse, in The Philokalia, Turin 1982, I,94)

 

 

Having reached the final stage (v. 23), Jesus does not allow the Apostles to keep God's treasures for themselves.

He compels them to go on mission to the pagans (v. 22). However, there were many adverse 'winds'.

About half a century after the Lord's death, the communities of Galilee and Syria were facing a difficult crossing.

The certainties of the ancient religion and the sense of rootedness in the customs of the "chosen" people were fading. Even the small privileges of position were crumbling.

With the increasing entry of pagans into the communities, the third generation of believers were forced to ask themselves how to break out of their ancient cultural isolation and open themselves up to a new way of seeing things.

In addition to persecution, internal conflicts were intensifying, for example, over the position to take in relation to the Empire itself.

There were heated debates about the very figure and history of the Master, as well as about the attitude to take towards the tradition of the fathers (which some saw as a call to return to the past).

Although the situation was fraught with friction, bitterness, resentment between those who had converted from Judaism and those who came from paganism, as well as impetuous dangers, the Good News of unconditional salvation could not be kept within a small circle.

The mention of the divine name 'I Am' refers here to the story of Exodus 3:14. It is a reminder to the disciples, who were still overcome by immediate fears about the real power of life and liberation of Christ - so much so that they did not recognise him (v. 26).

The Risen One makes himself present again and again, so that we may open ourselves and move forward without the burden of opposition or nostalgia. A whole new reality awaits us.

We are filled with God's strength (vv. 28-31), and today too, for our rebirth from the global crisis, we are called to a personal, cultural, radical and unprecedented response of love: to introspection, but not as intimidated subjects; to boldness, but not as hasty superficial people.

Authentic communities - "the corner of his cloak" (v. 36), that is, of his Person - will experience once again the power of the Spirit.

Through evangelisation and a new way of living and helping others freely, every storm that may gather on the horizon will dissipate.

It will be replaced by an ever deeper and more acute experience of the flourishing diversity on the other side: of our neighbour, of ourselves, of the very life that is coming, and of God.

But the virtue that dominates the elements cannot be experienced as Peter intended, that is, as an external, immediate, decisive, and final power, but rather as mysterious and interior, animated in time and deeply relational.

'Victory' will be the fruit of faith alone: trust in the power that the silent Messiah gives.

This power is far greater than what we already know about ourselves, even though we often (like Simon) demand an easier, quicker, and immediately decisive shortcut.

 

(Mt 8:23-27)

The direction imposed by Jesus on his followers seems counterintuitive and blatantly breaks the rules accepted by everyone.

While the disciples cherished nationalistic desires, the Master began to make it clear that He was not the Messiah commonly believed to be the restorer of the defunct empire of David or the Caesars.

The Kingdom of God is open to all humanity, which in those times of turmoil seeks security, welcome and points of reference. Everyone can find a home and shelter there (Mt 13:32c; Mk 4:32b).

But the apostles and church veterans seem averse to Christ's proposals; they remain insensitive to an idea of brotherhood that is too broad and unsettling for them. It is a serious and pressing problem.

The teaching and call imposed on the disciples is to cross over to the other side (Mk 4:35; Lk 8:22), that is, not to keep for themselves, but to communicate the riches of the Father to the pagans, considered impure and disreputable.

Yet his followers do not want to know about risky disproportions that effectively highlight the action of the Son of God. They are calibrated to common religious customs and a limited ideology of power.Their resistance to the divine commission and the ensuing internal debate unleashed a great storm in the assemblies of believers.

'And behold, there came a great storm upon the sea, so that the boat was being covered with waves' (Mt 8:24).

The storm affects only the disciples, who are the only ones who are frightened; not Jesus: "but he was asleep" (Mt 8:24c: this is the Risen One).

What happens 'inside' is not simply a reflection of what happens 'outside'! This is the mistake that needs to be corrected.

Such identification blocks and makes life chronic, starting with the management of emotionally relevant situations - which have their own meaning. They carry a significant appeal, introducing a different perspective and dialogue.

Even from the peace of the divine condition that dominates chaos, the Lord calls attention and rebukes the apostles, accusing them of not having faith, that is, a grain of risk of love - like a mustard seed (Mt 8:26) - to bring to humanity in order to renew it.

In short, are we confused, embarrassed, and is the chaos of patterns (not excluding selfishness) raging? Paradoxically, we are on the right path, but we must not be overcome by fear.

In Him, we are imbued with a different vision of danger.

The Tao Te Ching (xxii) says: 'The saint does not see by himself, therefore he is enlightened'. Even in narrow places.

In fact, it seems that Jesus expressly wants the apostles to experience moments of confrontation and doubt (Mk 4:35; Lk 8:22b). This is also true for us, even if we are responsible for the Church... because otherwise we will not be able to cleanse ourselves of repetitive convictions.

Textbook expectations (and the habit of creating conformist harmonies) block the flowering of who we are and what we hope for.

Above all, what is annoying or even "against" us has something decisive to tell us. Even in the little boat of the churches (Mk 4:36), discomfort must be expressed.

'And they came and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us, we are perishing!"' (Matthew 8:25).

It is to revive the essence of each individual and of the community itself, to introduce change (hidden or repressed) and activate it in the most effective way... through contact with unspoken, primordial energies.

More than opposing frictions and conflicting external events, anxiety, impression and anguish come from the very fear of facing the normal or decisive questions of existence.

This is due to mistrust: feeling in danger perhaps only because we perceive ourselves as immature, incapable of other forms of dialogue, of discovering and reworking, of converting or reshaping ourselves.

The effort of questioning ourselves and the suffering that the adventure of Faith reserves for us will fade away even amid the troubles of the rough sea - which precisely does not want us to return to 'what we were before'.

All we need to do is let go of the idea of stability, even religious stability, and listen to life as it is, embracing it, even in its multitude of collisions, disappointments, hopes for harmony that are shattered, and sorrows, entertaining ourselves with this flood of new emergencies and encountering our deepest nature.

The best vaccine against the anxieties of adventure with Christ on the changing waves of the unexpected will be precisely not to avoid worries upstream - but rather to go out to meet them and welcome them; to recognise them and let them be.

Even in times of global crisis, the apprehensions that seem to want to devastate us come to us as preparatory energies for other joys that want to burst forth—new cosmic harmonies; for amazement starting from ourselves, and guidance for the hereafter.

Our little boat is in a state of inverted stability, upside down, unbalanced; uncertain, inconvenient - yet energetic, pungent, capable of reinventing itself. It may even be excessive, but it is born of turmoil.

For a proposal of Tenderness (not corresponding) that is not a relaxation zone, because it rhymes with terrible anxiety and... suburbs!

 

To internalise and live the message:

On what occasions have you found easy what previously seemed impossible?

 

 

A wonderful testimony:

'Once, like the first disciples, we met the Lord and heard his words: "Follow me!" Perhaps at first we followed him a little uncertainly, looking back and wondering if this was really the right path for us. And at some point along the way, we may have experienced what Peter did after the miraculous catch of fish, that is, we were frightened by his greatness, the greatness of the task and the inadequacy of our poor selves, so much so that we wanted to turn back: 'Lord, go away from me, for I am a sinful man! (Lk 5:8) But then, with great kindness, He took us by the hand, drew us to Himself and said: "Do not be afraid! I am with you. I will not leave you, do not leave me!" And more than once, perhaps, the same thing happened to each of us as happened to Peter when, walking on the water towards the Lord, he suddenly realised that the water was not supporting him and that he was about to sink. And like Peter, we cried out: "Lord, save me!" (Mt 14:30). Seeing all the fury of the elements, how could we pass through the roaring and foaming waters of the last century and the last millennium? But then we looked to Him... and He took us by the hand and gave us a new "specific weight": the lightness that comes from faith and draws us upwards. And then He gives us His hand that supports and carries us. He sustains us. Let us fix our gaze on Him again and again and stretch out our hands to Him. Let His hand take us, and then we will not sink, but we will serve the life that is stronger than death and the love that is stronger than hatred. Faith in Jesus, the Son of the living God, is the means by which we grasp Jesus' hand again and again and by which He takes our hands and guides us. One of my favourite prayers is the question that the liturgy puts on our lips before Communion: '... never let me be separated from you'. We ask never to fall out of communion with His Body, with Christ Himself, never to fall out of the Eucharistic mystery. We ask that He never let go of our hand...'.

(Pope Benedict, Chrism Mass homily, 13 April 2006)

 

 

 

 

Bread and wonders of the Christ-ghost. And we, the fringe of his cloak

 

(Mk 6:53-56 // Mt 14:34-36)

 

 

He who is devoted to the cause of non-violence and non-possession, who is driven by the search for truth and right vision, who is capable of resolving his own emotional and intellectual problems and can show others the way to overcome their emotional and intellectual problems, can carry the cloak of the Master.

(Acharya Mahaprajna)

 

 

While some people crowd around Him and prevent others from having a personal relationship with Jesus, it is necessary to come up with something, at least to touch Him (v. 56).

'And wherever he entered villages or towns or hamlets, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him to touch even the fringe of his cloak. And all who touched him were saved'.

In fact, the fringe of his cloak is his People - and each one of us, when we are enabled by Gift to perceive and prolong his call, his spirit, his care, his action.

A 'touch' that is not a simple gesture: it calls for total involvement; personal faith, digging deep within.

The crowds around the Lord and the Church, his primary presence, seek bread and healing... but sometimes they forget their adherence to the inner Person who gives and cares.

Yet even in these cases, the infallible Guide re-proposes his uninterrupted vital wave - with therapies that do not impose themselves on souls like lightning, but in real life.

God frees, saves and creates, starting from tensions and defects (even religious ones) because he wants to bring us to awareness.

The Father wants to instil the value of the act of love that makes the weak strong; every re-creative gesture, embodied, open to any sense of emptiness.

 

Annoyances do not happen by misfortune or punishment: they come to let us flourish again, starting precisely from the pains of the soul.

If they persist, fear not: they become more explicit messages from our own higher Seed.

It means that something in our orchestra is out of tune or neglected, and must either fade away or be discovered and brought into play.

Otherwise, we will not be able to grow towards the destiny that characterises a Calling and every discomfort.

Even the symptoms of restlessness belong to the innate quintessence, which always has the power of relevance.

The key will therefore not be appearance or health, but rather the acceptance of bitterness and hardship, which come to clear away the non-essential and free trapped spiritual impulses.

These are energies of imbalance, but they want to be transformed into the ability to throw off ballast... as well as to better accommodate and integrate one's vocation into one's own history, in order to build life again.

 

Perhaps many would prefer to wait for a miraculous arrival of the Master (the archetypal healer) who will bring immediate benefits and favours.

External salvation with a magical flavour - fleeting, even if physically palpable or even in ethical guise.

A phenomenal but simplistic Lord.

An appearance that dies quickly, then starts all over again - if He (in us, in our turning points) did not involve the same uncertainties that mark us. And the long time of the processes, which gradually take on a more intimate weight.

Total and sacred redemption - truly messianic - is not prone to superficial fanfare.

Healing is not spectacular. It is achieved only step by step; thus it remains profound and radical.

It becomes capable of new beginnings and acts of birth of still embryonic energy, starting precisely from individual precariousness.

 

His People – no longer an ineffable and mysterious presence – work in proximity to erase the false image of the philosophical or forensic God, always external. 

Sovereign or imperative motor, distant and absent - touchy - who occasionally points the finger; never surpasses, nor even reconfirms. Never looking at our present.

Thus, the Church rejects the idea of the Eternal One who ratifies, but also that of the mass miracle worker, immediately decisive (so dear to miracle merchants) - a figure who easily takes hold of our imaginations.

 

We proclaim with words and gestures his authentic Face, precisely to destroy the idea of the Christ-ghost of the previous passage (v. 49), a deplorable and absurd figure.

An icon that is merely apologetic, which unfortunately in history has given ample space to those in business with the Most High.

Being healed does not mean escaping transience.

For a saved existence, a transformation from within is needed; another beginning. A different hold on goodness.

 

Jesus walks through our environments like a silent wayfarer, and even accepts a primitive faith.

But even with humble power, the divine impulse works in every seeker of meaning and in every needy person; it establishes itself personally, starting precisely from interrupted dreams.

The Lord cannot be imprisoned or contained: he approaches us to begin a great cleansing, to shift our gaze and renew the stale universe.

Thus he transforms us, in the experience of his gratuitous communion,

a coexistence that wants to take up residence in us, to merge and expand the drive for life (perhaps hidden in abstention) so that each of us may be amazed at ourselves, at unknown passions, at new relationships.

 

Believers and communities manifest in empathetic ways the incisive healing power of faith in the Risen One, starting from their own intimate experiences.

We experience this in our monotonous, unrewarding and precarious daily lives, which are nevertheless capable of changing the structure of existence hidden in summary districts (v. 56: 'borgate') and its unexpressed destination.

Without disturbing with special effects, unilateral or pressing.

 

The Tao Te Ching (xi) writes: 'Thirty spokes come together at a single hub, and in its non-being is the usefulness of the wheel'.

Elsewhere, the civilisation of appearances brings about the improvement of our condition and security (from insecurity) - not in a simple, indiscreet and temporary recovery.

Phenomenal, but only punctual and inconclusive, or ultimately abdicating.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

How do you view Jesus? As a miracle worker or a saviour?

How do you behave towards those who are excluded or seem without a shepherd?

 

 

 

Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni

"Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni" – with these and similar words, the liturgy of the Church prays repeatedly [...]

These invocations were probably formulated during the decline of the Roman Empire. The disintegration of the fundamental legal systems and moral attitudes that gave them strength caused the collapse of the barriers that had hitherto protected peaceful coexistence among people. A world was coming to an end. Frequent natural disasters further increased this feeling of insecurity. There was no force in sight that could halt this decline. All the more insistent was the invocation of God's power: that He would come and protect men from all these threats.

"Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni" (Awaken, Lord, your power, and come). Even today, we have many reasons to join in this prayer [...] The world, with all its new hopes and possibilities, is at the same time distressed by the impression that moral consensus is dissolving, a consensus without which legal and political structures cannot function; as a result, the forces mobilised to defend these structures seem doomed to failure.

Excita – the prayer recalls the cry addressed to the Lord, who was sleeping in the disciples' boat, which was being tossed about by the storm and was about to sink. When his powerful word had calmed the storm, he rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith (cf. Mt 8:26 and par.). He meant: faith has fallen asleep in you. He means the same thing to us. Faith so often sleeps in us too. Let us therefore pray to Him to wake us from the sleep of a faith that has grown weary and to restore to faith the power to move mountains – that is, to put the things of the world in their proper order.

(Pope Benedict, to the Roman Curia, 20 December 2010)