VICTORY OVER THE WATERS

There is a symbol that runs through this Sunday’s liturgy of the Word: water. There are at least 1,500 pages in the Bible wet with water. Water has multiple meanings in itself: it represents God (cf. Jer 2.13), his word (cf. Am 8.11). Furthermore, water recalls purification (cf. Ez 36,25) and the gift of the Spirit (cf. Jn 7,37-39). Water is also synonymous with life and at the same time with death. Let us think of the universal flood (cf. Gen 6), where Noah’s generation is overwhelmed. But God, as the first reading and today’s Gospel clearly show us, has full power over this implacable and violent “little girl” (cf. Job 38.8-9). It is no coincidence that John, in the Apocalypse, sees the disappearance of the sea as the arché (beginning) of the new creation (cf. Rev 21). On the water Jesus sleeps and sleeps blissfully while a storm is about to overwhelm him and his disciples. The question of the latter is therefore understandable: “Master, don’t you care that we are lost?” (Mk 4.8). To these words he responds by silencing the power of the sea and asking a question in his turn: «Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mk 4.40). Let us note: Jesus does not reproach him because they are afraid but because they do not have faith. Not having faith, they felt abandoned by the Master in the hour of trial.   A third question arises: “But who is he?” (cf. Mk 4,41). Yes, who is Jesus? If we stick to our story, Jesus is presented by Mark as YHWH, the Creator and Savior, the one who brought order to the chaos of the primordial waters with the power of his word (cf. Gen 1), who opened the way for the Jewish people to the land of freedom across the Red Sea (cf. Ex 14), which frees them from the fear of death. But that is not all. The Jesus sleeping on the stern (the stern is the first part of the boat that sinks) is an icon of his future death. Never more so than in that hour will the disciples feel lost. Jesus knows this, which is why he indicates faith as the strength to withstand the impact of passion. But his authoritative word over the threatening waters is an equally powerful image of his lordship over death. As an icon for our evangelical episode we choose a painting by Rembrandt from 1633, Christ in the Storm. Everything is played out on opposites: light and darkness, calm and storm, sleep and fear, dominion of Jesus and agitation of the disciples. The light that breaks in on the left does not fight with the darkness but simply advances and where it arrives it illuminates everything. There is a striking fact: Jesus is with them, fully involved in the event. What does it mean? That Christ saves us not with an external intervention but by standing in solidarity with us and helping us to trust in the One who can say with sovereignty to the water of the sea:

You will get this far and no further
and here the pride of your waves will be broken (Job 38.11).

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey