Saturday, May 4, 2019 2nd Week of Easter 1st Reading: Acts 6:1-7 Gospel: John 6:16-21
When evening came, the disciples went down to the shore. After a while they got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the sea, for it was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. But the sea was getting rough because a strong wind was blowing.
They had rowed about three or four miles, when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and he was drawing near to the boat. They were frightened, but he said to them, “It is Me; don’t be afraid.”
They wanted to take him into the boat, but immediately the boat was at the shore to which they were going.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Jesus left his disciples behind after he realized that the people wanted to make him king for the loaves he had multiplied (John 6:1-15). He withdrew to a lonely place and when it was getting dark he was not yet back. Afraid of being overtaken by darkness, the disciples left for Capernaum without Jesus. Then the wind started getting tough and the waves rough. They were in for a big trouble.
There are two lessons we can draw from what happened to the disciples. Firstly, we should never make major decisions while in fear. Although fear increases adrenalin in the body and activates our emergency powers to come up quickly with applicable decisions, vital factors are left out. What a coincidence that the reverse of “dali” (Visayan for rush) is “ilad” (Visayan for deception). A person rushing through his decision has greater chances of falling into deception.
Good decision comes from careful discernment that employs tools like “IDEAS” – an acronym that stands for Identification of the problem; Development of alternatives; Evaluation of alternatives vis-à-vis previously prepared criteria and the adoption of the best alternative that promises desired results; Application of alternatives, first using models before applying them to the actual situation; and Systematic evaluation.
Secondly, we should always involve Jesus in every step of the decision-making process. This was the big mistake of the apostles. Yes they were seasoned fishermen familiar with the hazards of sailing. Yet it is God who gives success to the work of our hands. “If the Lord does not build the house then those who build it work in vain” (Psalm 127).
A basic indicator that God is also involved in our decision- making is rationability. Abortion, for example, defies rationability. No mother, in fact, opts for this in her lucid moments. In the last analysis the disciples in today’s Gospel reading were far from rational. For fear of being overtaken by darkness they left behind the Light. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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