From: Mark 6:45-52

Jesus Walks on Water

[45] Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to
the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. [46] And after he
had taken leave of them, he went into the hills to pray. [47] And when evening
came the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. [48] And he
saw that they were distressed in rowing, for the wind was against them. And
about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He
meant to pass by them, [49] but when they saw him walking on the sea they
thought it was a ghost, and cried out; [50] for they all saw him, and were terri-
fied. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; have no
fear.” [51] And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they
were utterly astounded, [52] for they did not understand about the loaves, but
their hearts were hardened.

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Commentary:

48. The Romans divided the night into four parts or watches, whose length va-
ried depending on the season. St Mark (13:35) gives the popular names for
these watches: evening, midnight, cockcrow, morning. Therefore, it is towards
dawn that Jesus comes to the disciples.

He wishes to teach us that even when we are in very pressurized and difficult
situations, he is nearby, ready to help us; but he expects us to make an effort,
to strengthen our hope and temper our resolve (cf. note on Mt 14:24-33); as an
early Greek commentator puts it: “The Lord allowed his disciples to enter dan-
ger to make them suffer, and he did not immediately come to their aid: he left
them in peril for the whole night, to teach them to be patient and not to be ac-
customed to receiving immediate succor in tribulation” (Theophylact, “Enarratio
in Evangelium Marci, in loc.”).

52. The disciples do not yet see Jesus’ miracles as signs of his divinity. They
witness the multiplication of the loaves and the fish (Mk 6:33-44) and the se-
cond multiplication of the loaves (Mk 8: 17), but their hearts and minds are
still hardened; they fail to grasp the full import of what Jesus is teaching them
through his actions — that he is the Son of God. Jesus is patient and under-
standing with their defects, even when they fail to grasp what he says when he
speaks about his own passion (Lk 18:34). Our Lord will give them further mira-
cles and further teaching to enlighten their minds, and later, he will send the
Holy Spirit to teach them all things and remind them of everything he said (cf.
Jn 14:26).

St Bede the Venerable comments on this whole episode (Mk 6:45-52) in this
way: “In a mystical sense, the disciples’ efforts to row against the wind point
to the efforts the Holy Church must make against the waves of the enemy
world and the outpourings of evil spirits in order to reach the haven of its hea-
venly home. It is rightly said that the boat was out on the sea and He alone
on the land, because the Church has never been so intensely persecuted by
the Gentiles that it seemed as if the Redeemer had abandoned it completely.
But the Lord sees his disciples struggling, and to sustain them he looks at
them compassionately and sometimes frees them from peril by clearly co-
ming to their aid” (”In Marci Evangelium expositio”, in loc.).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

1 John 4:7-10 ©

My dear people,

let us love one another

since love comes from God

and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,

because God is love.

God’s love for us was revealed

when God sent into the world his only Son

so that we could have life through him;

this is the love I mean:

not our love for God,

but God’s love for us when he sent his Son

to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.

Psalm

Psalm 71:1-4,7-8 ©

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

O God, give your judgement to the king,

to a king’s son your justice,

that he may judge your people in justice

and your poor in right judgement.

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

May the mountains bring forth peace for the people

and the hills, justice.

May he defend the poor of the people

and save the children of the needy.

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

In his days justice shall flourish

and peace till the moon fails.

He shall rule from sea to sea,

from the Great River to earth’s bounds.

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Mt4:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom

and cured all kinds of diseases among the people.

Alleluia!

Or	Lk4:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,

to proclaim liberty to captives.

Alleluia!

Or	Lk7:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

A great prophet has appeared among us;

God has visited his people.

Alleluia!

Or	cf.1Tim3:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

Glory to you, O Christ,

proclaimed to the pagans;

glory to you, O Christ,

believed in by the world.

Alleluia!

Or	Mt4:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

The people that lived in darkness

has seen a great light;

on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death

a light has dawned.

Alleluia!

Gospel

As Jesus stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length. By now it was getting very late, and his disciples came up to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place and it is getting very late, So send them away, and they can go to the farms and villages round about, to buy themselves something to eat.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ They answered, ‘Are we to go and spend two hundred denarii on bread for them to eat?’ How many loaves have you?’ he asked ‘Go and see.’ And when they had found out they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people together in groups on the green grass, and they sat down on the ground in squares of hundreds and fifties. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing; then he broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the people. He also shared out the two fish among them all. They all ate as much as they wanted. They collected twelve basketfuls of scraps of bread and pieces of fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.