"Come away . . . and rest awhile"
Mark 6: 30 - 34
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071821.cfm
Often after returning from a vacation that was
filled with all kinds of adventures and activities, such as an overseas tour,
we may feel that we need a little “mini vacation” after the vacation to catch
up and recover. It might be readjusting to the time zone I live in, or catching
up on mail or getting the home in order before going back to a routine. Generally, it might mean taking a bit of a
rest to get organized again.
That’s the context in which our Gospel this
Sunday can be seen. The disciples of
Jesus had just been sent out “two by two” on mission to preach and heal and now
they return from what must have been a tiring journey and need a bit of R and R
to rest a while. Jesus recognizes this
and invites them to: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a
while.”
We hear as well that these men were thrilled
with the results they saw. Although tired and in need of a rest, their
enthusiasm must have pleased the Lord. Yet, predictably, they were actually a
bit filled with themselves and the power that Jesus had shared with them. So
before the false assumption that all success was due to them alone, Jesus
recognized their human need as well. So, get away from the crowds and the
demands of ministry and just recharge. Sounds good to me!
However, that was short lived for, “. . .
people were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even
to eat . . .” They had attempted a slip away on the Sea of Galilee but
evidently the crowds noticed their clandestine plan. The need was so great and
the hunger of the crowds for the preaching of Jesus, that their own personal
needs may have to be set aside for a little while more.
The crowds found in Jesus a charismatic
teacher unlike any other. He brought
them hope and healing and a new meaning and purpose for their lives. What greater human need is there than for an
existence which is meaningful and fulfilling? He was a very good shepherd to
his people and the disciples, soon to become Apostles, were called to model
themselves after his example. It’s all very ordinary and extraordinary at the
same time.
However, you would know from our first
reading of the prophet Jeremiah that such shepherds had not been in the
historical memory of the Jewish people. Still, God warns his people, in
particular their leaders that they had been poor shepherds who “mislead and
scatter the flock of my pasture.” These leaders, among them the Kings of Israel
hundreds of years before the coming of Jesus, had been everything they should
not have been: compromising the purity of the Jewish faith by mixing with other
pagan religions, allowing sacred worship to be overrun with corruption and
scandalizing the people who were desperate for unity and satisfaction in their
faith. “Where is our God?” they must
have cried.
Hope was offered since God decided to take
over and directly intervene in this desperation by his promise: “I myself will
gather the remnant of my flock . . . I will raise up a righteous shoot to
David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, do what is right and just in
the land.” A real shepherd will come to gather the broken and lost under his
kingdom. As Christians we of course see
this as a prophecy to send the best shepherd of all, Christ Jesus himself.
So, while the crowds continued to gather with
Jesus and his band of disciples, even pursuing them to the other side of the
lake not giving them rest, it was the need it self that Jesus responded to and
provided the example for his disciples.
“He was moved with pity . . . for they were like sheep without a
shepherd.” This deep compassion to set things right moved Jesus and in like
manner his disciples to not rest at this time but to respond to the need of the
crowds before them. Such compassion for
others is a powerful motivation for action. But it is also a lesson in
remembering whose mission this really is:
that of Jesus who we are privileged to promote
The mission of Christ, we are all entrusted
with means that at some point we need to recognize that our own needs may not
always be the most important. So, maybe
the question for us is that rather than moan and complain about scandal and
poor leadership which indeed we have seen over the last couple of years, would
it be better to provide for what might be lacking in the Church today? Would it be better by our own good example
and faithful leadership, however that may be played out in our lives, and I
include myself of course, to provide for the Church what may be lacking? What good do we see and where can we offer
that good in greater ways? In other words, what is my ministry; my living out
of my Christian mission? How and where do I attend to the needs of the flock
before me?
If we all think about it, we all have others
who look to us for something: children
to their parents, grandchildren to their grandparents, patients to their health
care providers, clients to their attorneys, parishioners to their pastors, and
further in the Church leaders to attend to the faith formation needs of the
flock. More examples are obvious as we
reflect on our own lives.
So, what is your ministry? What part of your life can be identified as a
share in the mission that Jesus offers you?
In short the mission of Christ is a way we offer to others a sharing in
the love of God for his people.
Next Sunday, our Gospel is about the loaves
the fishes and the feeding of this very crowd that pursue Jesus and his band of
men. They are now hungry and tired and
Christ sees a golden opportunity to not just attend to their physical needs but
in a dramatic gesture show them how God’s generosity is available for all.
Yesterday, when visiting a gentleman in the
hospital I had seen last year, I also found there one of his daughters and her
husband. We had a great chat and then
the daughter said to me: “Father, you really worked a miracle on Dad last
year. After you prayed, despite what
doctors had told him, he recovered enough to still be with us today at the age
of 93.”
Well, if I was brazen enough to take that
literally and now see myself as a great miracle worker, I better be ready to
hear what God spoke to the poor shepherds of Israel: “Woe to the shepherds who
mislead . . .”
So, let’s examine our hearts as disciples on
the mission of Christ given us. Our Eucharist gatherings remind all of us whose
mission we are privileged to share in.
As Mahatma Ghandi once said: “Be the change you wish to see in the
world.”
He always showed compassion
for children and for the poor,
for the sick and for sinners,
and he became a neighbor
to the oppressed and the afflicted
(Preface: Eucharistic Prayers for Various
Needs IV)
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