As I preached last Sunday, the joy of the Gospel is recognizing Christ’s presence. I also added these words in the conclusion: “The disciples came to realize that no place is ever lonely unless Christ’s identity is forgotten. Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. Christ is present here, how can we not be joyful?” Recognizing Christ’s real and actual presence has been the cause of Christian joy from the beginning of creation – “as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.” Revealing to the Church this presence was also what Christ’s Resurrection was all about: revealing that Christ is present among us, that, because of His presence, He hears us, that because of His presence, He knows us. The joy of the Gospel is recognizing Christ’s presence.
We see this as well in our Gospel passage. Jesus understood that the hearts of the disciples were hardened, but in His foreknowledge He also knew that after His Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Ghost, the disciples would remember, because of the Holy Ghost acting in them, all of what Jesus did and said – and specifically here, that they would remember not only the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand but this episode in the lake. They would remember that He walked on the lake, but they did not recognize Him. They would remember they thought He was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw Him and were terrified. When people’s hearts are hardened, they do not see Jesus for Who He is; they see Him as someone or something else, if they see Him at all. This was true then, and this remains true today. They were not full of joy at His presence out in the lake, but full of terror, and unholy fear.
But as Jesus did to S. Mary Magdalene outside the cave of S. Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus spoke perfectly. He spoke comforting words to the disciples. He said, “Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.” And He climbed into the boat with them, which made His presence intense and intimate. This was all to astonish the disciples. This was all to lift the hearts and mind of the disciples up into heavenly places. This was all to unharden their heart, for all God wants is the human heart. And this would happen after the Holy Ghost descended upon the Upper Room church in Jerusalem at Pentecost and in the nine days leading to Pentecost. The Holy Ghost brought to their remembrance all that Christ had said and done, and especially the significance of what Christ had said and done. And this was so that their joy would be full: so full that their proclamation of the Gospel would be confident, strong, unwavering, and rooted in their experience, and their scripturally mediated experiential memory. That in recognizing the amazement of the disciples, the Church would be drawn into this amazement, drawn into this astonishment, drawn into the fullness of the Gospel.
The key to it all is this: the joy of the Gospel is recognizing Christ’s presence. And let it be known the ways Christ is present here among us, at this moment. Number 1: Christ is present among the Baptized, for in being baptized, our bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit that we are able to abide in Christ’s word, which Our Lord said is the condition of Christ dwelling in us, with the Father. Number 2: Christ is present in the proclamation of Scripture. At the end of each reading is said “The Word of the Lord,” or “The Gospel of the Lord.” Christ is the Word, Christ is the Gospel. Number 3: Christ is present through the Bishop, Priest, and/or Deacon present in the Mass, as a grace of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Number 4: Christ is present in the Tabernacle, in which the Blessed Sacrament is kept. Number 5: Christ is present in the Eucharist, because the bread and wine change into Christ’s most precious Body and Blood—why? because Jesus said so: sacramentally, really, and actually.
Knowing how Christ is present during the Liturgy, let our joy be that of Mary and Elisabeth at the Visitation; let our joy be that of Simeon and Anna in the Temple; let our joy be that of S. John the Baptist; let our joy be that of Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration; let our joy be that of the Upper Room Church at the Resurrection, at the Ascension, and at Pentecost. Let our joy be that of the three thousand souls baptized at Pentecost. Let our joy be that of the Saints, the heavenly company of Saint with whom we are one through Christ. For our Joy is Christ, present among us, present in us: He Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost; ever one God, world without end. Amen.