Bible Verses

Psalm 72: 1-2, 10, 12-13
R: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king's son; 2 he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 10 The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. (R) 12 For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.

G O S P E L
Mark 6:45-52
The presence of Jesus with them in the boat ought to have been enough to give the apostles peace. However, what we have is a lesson in the way fear can lead us to make an irrational response to a given situation. The apostles have seen the power Jesus has over the natural world in the multiplication of the loaves and fish. They ought to have been free from fear in this situation but they were not. Why? They allowed fear in and it began to take over. Let this be a sobering lesson to us all.

45 Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray. 47 When it was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore. 48 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. 49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. 50 They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid! 51 He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were [completely] astounded. 52 They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
my reflections

think: Fear is ultimately a destructive thing if it goes unchecked. The antidote to fear is love.