Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
In Michael O'Brien's novel The Father's Tale, the "secret message" on the boat is a pivotal spiritual and narrative moment involving Ilya, a Russian father separated from his family. While searching for his own son, the protagonist Alex Graham finds himself in a small village on Lake Baikal in Siberia. There, he stays with a widow named Irina and her two sons, whose father, Ilya, disappeared after the Chernobyl disaster. The "secret" message is found within a hand-carved wooden boat that Ilya made for his sons before he was taken or died. The boat contains a hidden compartment or "secret" space where Ilya had placed a message for his sons. It is not necessarily a written note; rather, the boat itself serves as a vessel of love. When Alex Graham finds the boat at the family's Siberian home, it is indeed in a state of disrepair. The boat is worn and cannot stand properly because it is damaged or unbalanced. This physical state reflects the family's broken spirit and the absence of a father's stabilizing presence. Alex, despite being a stranger and a guest, spends his time meticulously repairing and mending the boat. He works on it until it can once again "stand" and sail. This act is transformative for both the family and Alex. As he repairs the boat, he metaphorically repairs the concept of fatherhood in a home where the father has been long absent. By fixing the boat, Alex participates in restoring the boys' hope that their father loved them and that they are not forgotten. It becomes tangible proof of their worth in the eyes of a father, even one they cannot see.
The Gospel reading today has a rich theme about the relationship between the Father and the Son, though some passages are quite puzzling. First, Jesus says, the Son cannot do anything on his own. Does it mean Jesus, as the Son, is inferior to the Father? Or does it mean the Father is greater than the Son? According to St. Augustine, there is a different way of understanding Jesus’ statements which seem to imply inferiority in the Son. We have to look at the origin of the Son coming or being begotten from the Father. Although the Son is equal to the Father in all things, He receives all these things from the Father in an eternal begetting. But the Father gets these from no one, for he is unbegotten. In a different way, we can read the statement of Jesus as: I am equal to the Father, but in such a way as to be from him, and not the Father from me; and so whatever I may do, is in me from the Father. Second, Jesus says that the Father will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. Does it mean Jesus is greater or more powerful than his Father? Again, St. Augustine has a good insight into this passage. Christ has both a divine and a human nature. According to His divinity, He has the power to give life to souls, but according to his human nature, He gives life to human bodies. So, Christ, through his power, will do some greater works by raising the dead. He will raise some of the dead such as Lazarus (John 11), the young girl (Mark 5), and the mother’s only son (Luke 7); and finally, He himself will raise all on the day of judgment.