Are You Afraid, and think that Jesus is a Ghost?

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to a group of High School students at Ernescliff College on April 24, 2023. Today's Gospel is about Jesus walking on the water: as the apostles imagined he was a ghost, he said do not be afraid. Jn 6:16-21: When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading. Music: Chiquinha Gonzaga composer, Lua Branca (Arranged for guitar by Bert Alink). Thumbnail: Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, Jesus walks on Water, 1849 St. Petersburg.