Readings of the day
God’s will for each of us is to be happy. That is a simple fact. We are told we should pray relax and discern God’s will for each of us. This allows us peace. We always find peace in doing God’s will.
In our reading Jesus points us towards something that is somewhat obvious, but seldom asked or even thought much about. There are times that our frail human bodies just need time to stop and rest. We can see that God understands this… It is our busy always moving culture that tells us to keep going until we simply collapse.
The Apostles had just come back from their mission, which Jesus had sent them on. They are tired and they are hungry. We can all probably picture ourselves in this same condition.
The New Mission
So now Jesus wants to send them on a new mission… to rest and recuperate.
There are times God wants you and I to sit on the sidelines for a bit and get back to a fitful place. We are able to use our mind and body much better when we are completely rested. Seldom do we look for that kind of mission from our Lord. But we have to remember that there are times when rest is necessary.
That is part of Jesus’ message to us in today’s Gospel. The other part also brings us to another stark reality. Sometimes through no fault of our own, we are not able to rest and fulfill this particular mission that we are given by God.
Is there anybody listening?
Jesus’ will for the apostles were for them to go away and rest. As we just heard, God is speaking to the Apostles… God was also speaking to everyone else there as well. However, It does appear, that there were not many people listening to what God had to say.
If it was God’s will for the Apostles to rest, He certainly wouldn’t have had the people hastening and running to and fro from all the towns to get to the same place where the disciples were going.
So we hear that Jesus came off the boat and that His heart was moved with pity. The people were running around, all over the place. They were not hearing the will of God. They were trying to get what they perceived they wanted.
Psalm 23
The people needed a shepherd. The shepherd could tell the flock no… not time to move now… Stick right here and graze here. When it is time, we shall move. Now it is time to rest.
The image of a shepherd is a very powerful one. Even those that have never been on a farm or near pasture understand what a shepherd does. The image of a Shepherd is used so much in the Bible, simply because it is easy to understand. The writer of Hebrews used the image today in its final prayer for its listeners. The letter went through a large discourse on how Jesus is indeed the Messiah. And the last image used to describe Jesus is Shepherd.
From Genesis to Revelation, the theme of shepherding is abundant. The very well-known Psalm 23 today speaks in this motif. God wants us each to understand the things he is telling us, so He talks in this kind of language. Think about what a shepherd does.. he leads, protects and he loves. What better description of what Jesus does for us?
The shepherd is there to guide and protect us as we go through our lives. But, we have a certain responsibility as well. We have to be listening for these instructions. And this is what we saw the crowds of people not doing. Jesus arrived, got off the boat and was able to direct them, calm them down, and attend to the people’s needs. He led, he protected, He loved. And He continues this each and every day for each and every one of us. He is here with us today as we take a break from our busy lives.
Our mission
We are giving a sacrifice to God, in both our time and our love for Him. We are saying Thank you for all that you give us. For all the gifts we receive including the Eucharist. The gifts that He gives us are truly the things we need to bring us to sanctity. SO we should be listening
We need to be open to his call to Mission. This mission may surprise with what it asks of us. But we always have faith and that of course means trust.
One may wonder though, what did Jesus do to help those who needed the rest and food? Now the way the readings go this year, we heard the next passage about 6 weeks ago. So we might just miss how Jesus not only helped the Apostles rest but also the entire crowd.
So how did Jesus, as a loving shepherd take a group of tired and hungry people, get the rest they needed? That evening with all of the crowd still present… He had them sit down in rows with the Apostles who were also tired and hungry… someone there had 5 loaves of bread and two fish… they all ate and were satisfied.