Throughout the Gospel we see Jesus behaving with naturalness and simplicity. He does not seek clamorous gestures from those who follow him. He performed miracles without making noise, as far as possible. To those whom he had healed, he recommended that they should not go around proclaiming the graces they received. He teaches that the Kingdom of God does not come with ostentation, and shows in the parables of the mustard seed and the hidden yeast the mysterious power of his words. We also see him quietly welcoming requests for help, which he will then respond to. Jesus' silence during the trial before Herod and Pilate is full of sublime grandeur. We see him standing in front of a vociferous, excited crowd, which uses false witnesses to distort his words.... We are particularly impressed by this silence of God in the midst of the whirlwind of human passions. The silence of Jesus is not indifference or a contemptuous attitude towards creatures who offend him: it is full of pity and forgiveness. Jesus Christ is always waiting for our conversion. The Lord knows how to wait! He is more patient than we are.
Silence on the Cross is not a pause taken to repress anger and condemnation. It is God, who always forgives, who is there. He opens wide the way to a new and definitive era of mercy. God always listens to those who follow him, even if at times it seems that he is silent, that he does not want to hear us. He is always attentive to the weaknesses of men..., but to forgive, to lift up and to help. If he is silent on some occasions, it is so that our faith, our hope and our love may mature.
In the scene proposed to us in the Gospel of the Mass1 we contemplate Jesus tired after a day of intense preaching. The Lord went with his disciples into a boat to cross to the other side of the lake. When they had been at sea for some time, a storm arose, so great that the waves covered the boat. In the meantime, the Lord, overcome with fatigue, fell asleep. He was so tired that not even the strong lurches of the boat woke him up. In the face of so much danger, Jesus seems absent. This is the only passage in the Gospel that shows Jesus asleep.
The Apostles, mostly seafarers, realized at once that their efforts were not enough to keep the boat on course and realized that their lives were in danger. So they came to Jesus and awoke him, saying, "Lord, save us, for we are perishing!
Jesus reassured them with these words, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? It is as if he said to them, Do you not know that I am going with you, and that this should give you boundless steadfastness in the midst of your troubles? And he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great boom. The disciples were filled with wonder, peace and joy. They saw once more that to go with Christ is to walk in safety, even though he is silent. And they said, Who is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? He was their Lord and their God. Later, with the sending of the Holy Spirit into their souls on the day of Pentecost, they understood that they would have to live in frequently agitated waters and that Jesus would always be in his boat, the Church, apparently asleep and silent at times, but always welcoming and powerful; never absent. They understood this when, shortly after, at the beginning of their apostolic preaching, they were besieged by persecutions and felt the blow of the incomprehension of the pagan society in which they carried out their activity. However, the Master comforted them, kept them afloat and encouraged them to new enterprises. And he does the same as he does with us now.