“And forthwith Jesus obliged his disciples to go up into the boat, and to go before him over the water, till he dismissed the people. And having dismissed the multitude, he went into a mountain alone to pray. And when it was evening, he was there alone. But the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed with the waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking upon the sea. And they seeing him walking upon the sea, were troubled, saying: “It is an apparition.’ And they cried out for fear. And immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying: ‘Be of good heart: it is I, fear ye not.’”
Jesus obliges His disciples to leave His side, knowing that through an abundance of love, they do not want to be far from Him. They did not desire to be separated from Him for a moment, but by His instruction they go: “Cast me not away from thy face; and take not thy holy spirit from me” (Psalm 50:11). So too should prayer be of such priority and delight to the one that loves Jesus, that time with Him is the pinnacle of the day, with the need to go do other things being necessary rather than preferred: “Man shall go forth to his work, and to his labour until the evening” (Psalm 103:23). While labor and following the commandments are necessary parts of life: “And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15); “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 118:1), they are not the peak of life, which is to love and be loved, for “God created man to his own image,” (Genesis 1:27), and “God is love” (1 John 4:16), with the Trinity being an infinite exchange of loving and being loved in the bond of love that is the Holy Spirit, and for this was man made. His work on loving His neighbors being complete, Jesus goes to the fount of love that is the Father, showing the balance between the two commandments of love of God and neighbor. While Jesus was never separated from the love of God: “Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?” (John 14:11), He shows us that we need to refresh ourselves on being loved that we may love those we see in turn: “My dearest, if God hath so loved us; we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). Now, when Jesus goes to be alone, He goes to deserts and mountains, showing that one’s place of prayer should not be filled with distractions, but someplace quiet and calm, that the focus may be entirely on the exchange of love, just as lovers seek places of repose to be together: “Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees. I am come into my garden, O my sister, my spouse” (Canticle 5:1). As Jesus prays, the Apostles are tossed about in the sea, having previously known the difficulties of potential shipwreck as followers of Christ, but at that time they had Jesus with them: “A great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: ‘Lord, save us, we perish” (Matthew 8:24-25), and in His absence they grow in recollection of Him, for the storms of life excite the desire to simply be with the ones one loves, realizing that this alone is important, especially when they are far away during these storms: “They have come round about me like water all the day: they have compassed me about together. Friend and neighbour thou hast put far from me: and my acquaintance, because of misery” (Psalm 87:18-19). By the fourth watch of the night is indicated the time between 3 am and 6 am, showing that they had been in danger all night, and is expounded by the fear of thinking they had seen an apparition, or a spirit. By “the wind being contrary,” this can indicate the activity of the devil, and so by finding themselves without human aid, the rudder of good counsel broken, and to raise the sails of following one’s heart will only lead to greater destruction, then do you realize, Theophila, the necessity of crying out to the Lord: “I cried to the Lord with my voice; to God with my voice, and he gave ear to me” (Psalm 76:2). This is done because God, to rescue you, His dearly beloved, from all that is not love, brings in what is terrible and difficult, for the human person loves its place of comfort and familiarity, and needs to be shaken out of this to realize that they must seek love and love alone: “And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the highest gave his voice: hail and coals of fire” (Psalm 17:14). However, it is in the midst of the storm that the calm voice of Jesus comes through, saying: “It’s me. Don’t be afraid.” The greater the affliction of absence, the greater the rejoicing at the return of the Beloved, for a maiden who misses her spouse is pained with his absence, but when terrors and afflictions descend while she is alone, the return of the spouse brings about not only the consolation of his presence but that of security and safety: “So also you now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you” (John 16:22).