Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday - 27th January 2024

​It was good to have a sunny day yesterday and to see how quickly the daffodils and other hardy perennials in the monastery garden are growing, some of them in bud already. The birds, too, sense that Spring is just around the corner. There’s one particular blackbird and a pair of robins who accompany Toby and me every day on our early morning walk. They seem to delight in seeing us and singing at the top of their voices as they follow us around. Of course, it’s not daylight that keeps them awake but the street lighting we have near the houses in the abbey grounds. Still, it’s encouraging to see the days lengthening and to know for sure that new life and hope are about to spring forth and blossom. Let us pray that this happens in our lives as well. Yesterday we also spent the day with my mother, enjoyed chatting over magnificent meals and had a long walk on the beach, taking in a glorious sunset.

 

​Today’s Gospel passage continues our reading of Mark, (Mk 4: 35-41), and tells the story of the calming of the sea. It’s one of the loveliest stories in the Gospel and one which fills us with hope and confidence in the power of Jesus to calm the storms of life that at times beset us. “With the coming of evening, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us cross over to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him.” We note the time of day, when Jesus suggests to his disciples that they cross to the other side of the Sea of Tiberius. It’s getting dark, but it’s a trip they’ve done many times and so set out with confidence, little thinking of what could happen. In addition, there are other boats too. Jesus knows what is about to happen; this is going to be a test of faith for his disciples. “Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep.” A gale at sea is no fun, as many of you will know. I’ll never forget a crossing I made from Naples to Palermo, when I was a student, or a six-hour trip down the River Roraima in Guyana in an open boat on one of my trips for A.I.M. I can think of nothing more frightening, except the thought of the return journey!

 

So strong are the waves, that the boat is almost swamped, and yet Jesus remains asleep, his head on a cushion. I love the detail in Mark, often missing in the other evangelists. “They woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again.” They have to wake Jesus up, as he is fast asleep. “Do you not care?” they ask him. He rebukes the wind and orders the sea to calm down with his powerful word. His word is obeyed, “and all was calm again.” He then rebukes his disciples, “‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ They were filled with awe and said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’” He equates their fear with lack of faith, in fact, with having no faith at all. They still do not know for certain who he is or, perhaps groping for faith, they are still uncertain about putting their trust in him, especially if he’s asleep. This is truly prophetic, for Jesus will save us through death and burial as a prelude to resurrection. He will be asleep on the cross and in the tomb. For the time being, they are filled with awe, and wonder who Jesus can be that even the wind and the waves obey him. Who can he be but God, God made man, God incarnate? Our faith, like that of the disciples, is sometimes lacking. Lord, deepen my faith, strengthen my trust in you. Amen.