WALKING ON THE WAVES OF OUR WEAK NATURE

SATURDAY, SECOND WEEK OF EASTERTIDE   

Acts 6:1-7; Ps 33:1-2,4-5,18-18; Jn 6:16-21

The Son of Man Walking on the Waters

The union of the human nature with the divine nature in the Son of Man is the ideal that prompted God to create man in the first place. According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, the first in a genus is the principle in that genus. Adam was the first man made with the image of God, but the Son of Man is the first man perfected in the likeness of God. Since the making of man in the likeness of God is the end or purpose of our creation, the first man in the likeness of God is the principle of all others who would be made into the likeness of God. Saint Paul explained this mystery in 1 Cor 15: 46-48 “The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.” He was explaining the mystery that Jesus presented to Nicodemus, as we read earlier this week, which formed the basis of our reflections for the week. Thus, the difference between a spiritual person and a natural person is profound, a world apart. Because the things and events of our physical world and life are rooted and governed by spiritual or heavenly reality, the natural man cannot comprehend the spiritual, but the spiritual man deeply understands the natural and their principles. As our Lord puts it earlier in the week: “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” He applied this to our spiritual life: the Holy Spirit directs our spiritual life.

The presentation of spiritual birth and life as the supervening order over the chaos of sin-corrupted natural life is symbolically presented in the Gospel. The Son of Man, after feeding the five thousand people with five barley loaves and two fish, walked on the water to meet his disciples, who were rowing their boat in troubled water. “In the evening, the disciples went down to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the boat.” Since the Son of Man is the source of the spiritual life as its principle, to be regenerated spiritually, all who were naturally generated through Adam’s stock must be connected to him by faith and love to be regenerated. These are two spiritual acts of our minds/intellect and wills, which are spiritual powers. By encountering the Son of Man in the proclamation of the Gospel, we receive the gift of faith and love from the Holy Spirit that accompanies the Gospel. We exercise these gifts by accepting baptism into Jesus Christ and professing faith in his name. Living by the Gospel we have received, we grow into his likeness spiritually. As we become like him spiritually, we rise above the turbulent waves of this physical life by focusing on Jesus Christ as the goal of our spiritual transformation.

Such turbulence arose in the early Christian community, as contained in today’s passage. Our disordered human nature is always the source of turbulence in us and in our gatherings. “About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked.” The apostles resolved the problem by rededicating themselves to prayerful listening and proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord. They selected seven spiritually acclaimed men who have devoted themselves to the Gospel and have become Christlike through the Holy Spirit. “The whole assembly approved of this proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.” These men walk on the waves and turbulence of human weaknesses and vices because of their dedication to Jesus Christ. We must focus on the Son of Man, the principle of our spiritual life, to subdue our unruly nature and make progress in our spiritual life. A constant meditation on the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord, renews us in his likeness. The Eucharistic celebration is structured for this purpose. May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.

Let us pray: O God, who willed that through the paschal mysteries the gates of mercy should stand open for your faithful, look upon us and have mercy, that as we follow, by your gift, the way you desire for us, so may we never stray from the paths of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.