Gospel (Jn 6,16-21) - When evening came, Jesus' disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat and set off towards the other shore of the sea in the direction of Capernaum. It was now dark and Jesus had not yet reached them; the sea was rough, because a strong wind was blowing. After rowing about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat, and they were afraid. But he said to them: «It is I, do not be afraid!». Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat touched the shore to which they were headed.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus, after the multiplication of the loaves, seeing that the crowd wanted to make him king, flees alone to the mountain. The disciples, left alone, take the boat and head towards Capernaum. They return home. It was night, notes the evangelist. Not so much because of the time, but because of the absence of Jesus. And what's more, the lake is agitated. It is a scene that symbolizes the countless storms that arise in everyone's life. And who always find us scared and frightened. Suffering baffles us, natural disasters leave us speechless, as happened in the recent pandemic. Sometimes the abyss of evil that seems to take hold of men scares us and makes us doubtful and with little hope for our future and that of the world. In truth, Jesus is not far away, even in the darkest, most dramatic moments. Jesus continues to "walk" even today on the stormy waters of human history among the waves and doubts that assail us and which also make life sad and difficult. In reality, we are the ones who forget about him or worse, who escape him, as happened to the apostles that evening. The evangelist writes that they "saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat, and they were afraid". How many times do we too, instead of allowing ourselves to be consoled and reassured by the Gospel and our brothers, prefer to remain alone with our fear! After all, fear is such a natural and spontaneous feeling that it seems "ours" even more than the closeness of the Lord. The truth, fortunately, is different: Jesus' love for us is stronger than our fear. Even if we sometimes prefer to cling to the boat of our illusory securities, proudly believing that alone we can manage to dominate every hurricane of life, Jesus approaches and says to us too: "It's me, don't be afraid". They are the good words that Jesus continues to repeat to his disciples every time the Gospel is announced. The disciple's security is not based on his strength or his experience, but on trusting in the Lord. It is the Lord who comes to our aid, who gets into our boat and leads us to the safe harbor.