Commentary on John 6:1–15 from “Sacred Space”

Some thoughts on today’s scripture John 6:1-15

• As Philip runs some calculations and Simon takes stock of what is to hand, Jesus sees what is in their hearts. With Jesus, I review some of the decisions I have made recently, allowing him to notice what motivated me, speaking to him about what my heart has been seeking. Have I been like Philip, overthinking? Or like Simon, planning what I might do?

• Jesus withdraws to the mountain by himself - John’s way of telling us that he was going to pray. Stay with him as he prays, noticing his choice not to be king of the people, but to be alone with God; see how he chooses relationship over influence, how he puts his identity before his popularity.

• What aspect of this story touches me - maybe ‘the abundance of Jesus' concern for the people or the pathetic amount of food available to the disciples? Have I ever been surprised by the abundance of good that has come from my poverty?

• Who has fed me throughout my life? My body needs food and my spirit needs food too. How do I provide for my spirit’s hunger?

• This is the only miracle found in all four gospels, which means it is an exceptional event with meaning that goes much deeper than the extraordinary feeding of those thousands. In the gospel of John, Jesus is the one who explains in great detail what this sign means. The evangelist links the miracle with the mission of Jesus and the Eucharist: he uses the same verbs we later find in the institution of the Eucharist - Jesus took the bread, gave thanks and gave the bread to the people inviting them to take as much as they needed.

• Jesus once said that he came so that we may have life and life in abundance, and this is so evident in this miracle: Everybody ate as much as they wanted, and there were twelve baskets of leftovers, much more than the amount they started with. This reminds me of the extravagant quantity of water turned into wine at Cana: I consider how God in Jesus is generous beyond my imagination, in Cana, in the multiplication of the loaves, in my own life. I ask for the grace of gratitude.

• In this reading from Saint John’s Gospel we are given what John sees as a symbol of how Jesus seeks to nourish the life he has spoken about in John 3. He envisages this food with which he wants to feed us as a banquet he invites us to enjoy. For Jesus this banquet is a symbol of his desire to share himself with us in the Word of God and in the bread of life. There is no limit to what Jesus wants to share with us.

• One of the most attractive characteristics of Jesus is his generosity in sharing all he has and is with us. In prayer you might dwell with how much Jesus has done for you, how much He has given you of all that He has and ultimately how He wants to share himself with you in the Word of God and in the Eucharist.

• In today’s Gospel Jesus performs the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. It is, of course, a symbol of the Eucharist; there are deliberate signals that this is so. This incident is memorable, but it pales in significance when compared to the wonder of the Eucharist. Try to devote some time to seeing the occasion, speaking to the participants and drawing fruit for yourself and your life.

• The small offering of the young man fed the people. God can make much of what we offer. Our attempts to live in his love and follow him are nothing without him. we never know where our efforts to love, to help, to support others may bear fruit. 

• In this miracle, Jesus works with the little the apostles have to feed the multitude. Through his actions he reveals how God is towards us: nourishing, caring, lavish, and concerned for all our needs.

• God also expects us to come to the aid of one another, and to share what little we have. Saint Teresa of Calcutta said about Jesus, “He uses us to be his love and compassion in the world in spite of our weaknesses and frailties.” I pray for the courage I need to risk giving even the little that I have.

• This scene provides a revelation of the sort of person God is! Our resources are never enough, but God has limitless resources, enough for us to do what God wants done. 

• Jesus reveals the God of abundance, but notice that the focus is on the poor and the needy, not on making rich people richer. Jesus needs my help in caring for those at the bottom of the human pyramid. This is the theme of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si.

• The miracle Jesus performed with the loaves and fishes convinced the large crowds who were following him that he was the prophet they were seeking. His teaching, healing, and feeding of the multitude made a profound impact on them and revealed his divine presence. 

• Jesus is present in the everyday encounters of my life. He is present in those I meet every day; and especially in the poor, the marginalised, and those in need of my help. When I open my heart and reach out in compassion and love to them, I am also meeting Jesus.

• Jesus was able to live in a community of ritual and tradition; he accepted it but called people to see more deeply. As Passover approaches he moves the people he meets on the hillside to appreciate its meaning in a profoundly new way, one that would connect them, not just with the past, but with their neighbours and with a broader community. For some, the miracle was for that moment and demanded that Jesus be made King. For Jesus, it was a threshold to prayer, an invitation to spend time with God.

• Men, women and children sit on the grass, innocently eating as much bread and fish as they wanted. Jesus works with the little people to feed the multitude. Through his actions he reveals how God is towards us: nourishing, caring, lavish, and concerned for all our needs

• Lord, the hunger of the world screams for my attention. But what can I do? Give me a willingness to go beyond myself, to share my little resources towards building a community where people love and care for one another. 

• This miracle reveals the heart of God, who cares about our every need. God also expects us to come to the aid of one another, and to share what little we have.

• I enter in imagination into this amazing scene. I share Philip’s puzzlement; I watch the little boy as he gives up the lunch his mother made for him. I gaze at Jesus as he prays, then as he breaks the bread and the fish. It takes so long to feed everyone, but he is smiling as he works. He fills my empty and grubby hands too, and I look into his eyes and thank him.

• Where do I place myself in this wonderful scene? In the crowd? With Philip and Andrew? With the boy who risks letting his lunch go? Do I offer what little I have? Do I hold out empty hands for bread and fish? Do I help tidy up? Do I catch on to what has happened? Do I go with Jesus as he escapes ‘into the mountain’? 

• Jesus, you do not want to be ‘king’. You dream of a community where everyone is equal. You want no one dominating. You want everyone to feel accepted and respected. Reveal to me ways in which I dominate. Do I think I am better than others? Can I admit when I’m wrong? Don’t let me play at being ‘king’!

• The message of Jesus reaches into the depths of our humanity, into those spaces of life where we dance and sing, laugh and cry, mourn and despair, hope and love, and where everything deeply human dwells within us. Jesus also pours the living water into that space and speaks an eternal word. In prayer we can say ‘You have the message of eternal life.

• The young boy had enough food only for himself; the food was the food of the very poor - the barley loaf. Given with love, it seemed to multiply. Whatever the meaning of this miracle, one of its lessons is that God can make much of what we offer. Our attempts to live in his love and follow him are nothing without him. The small offering of the young man fed the people; we never know where our efforts to love, to help, to support others may bear fruit.

• The boy with the small lunch seems to have had little to offer, but what he brought fed the crowds. We often feel that we have little to offer in the service of Jesus. His work now depends on our co-operation with him. What is offered in love - though it looks small - can have large effects. Our prayer time is our daily offering of love and care for others in the immediate circle of our lives and a connection to the larger world of neighbourhood, country and universe.

• 'A large crowd kept following him': am I in that crowd? Hidden in the middle? Do I risk standing out, being seen by others? Being seen by him?

• The Passover, recalling how the Israelites were fed with manna in the desert, is 'near'. Jesus is giving a sign here of who he is, the new Moses, leading those with faith in him into true freedom. I mingle with the crowd, observing what happens around me, accepting his overwhelming bounty, watching him relate to each individual person.

• The crowd had motives for following Jesus - physical healing for themselves or their loved ones, the political liberation they thought he had come to bring. What are my motives? What is he offering me?

• It seems natural to calculate and understandable to feel that the resources available are not equal to the demands being made. I ask God to help me when I am inclined to despair, to give me heart and hope.

• The meagre rations that were available were enough. I pray for the courage I need to risk giving.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 21, 2024

Jesus’ compassion for those who need his help; balancing personal rest with the needs of others

Mark 6:30–34

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Music Meditations

• “Come to Me, All Who Are Weary” (composed by Dan Schutte) [YouTube]
• “In Christ Alone” (sung by Travis Cottrell) [YouTube]
• “Shepherd Me O God” (composed by Marty Haugen) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

Lord, there are times when I want to get away from the crowds, when I feel oppressed by company. There are other times when I just wish that somebody knew that I exist; those days, I can have too much of aloneness. If I can reach you in prayer, and know that you are more central to me than my own thoughts, I feel at peace, as the apostles must have felt.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” 2018, a service of the Southern Dominican Province

When you read, or hear, in Mark’s gospel that Jesus is planning a quiet retreat for himself or his disciples, you can be sure their rest is going to be interrupted by the needs of the people. Mark is a busy gospel and that’s what happens in today’s passage. The apostles return from the preaching and healing ministry Jesus had sent them on -- remember last week’s gospel (6: 7-13)? Today we are told that they, “gathered together with Jesus,” the way sheep gather with their shepherd, and that they made a report of their preaching mission. Jesus invites them to come apart with him to “a deserted place and rest awhile.” But Mark’s is not a gospel for resting, there is much to do; there are many needy people. It sounds like it was written yesterday, a modern gospel for modern disciples who have too many pressing needs, too limited energies, too many distractions, too much confusion about what’s really important and what’s just busy work that distracts us from our calling. Yes, “calling,” whether we are full time paid ministers, church volunteers, or people leading very busy and demanding lives -- the kind Jesus and his disciples lead in Mark’s gospel. If any of the above describes your life, then Mark is the gospel for you.

Jesus had sent the apostles out to do the very things he was doing, teaching, healing and driving out demons. In this action-filled gospel one event follows quickly upon another. We can sense the rush of activity and can understand the need Jesus and his apostles have for rest and regrouping. I wonder if Jesus not only wanted to give his disciples a chance to rest, but also to remind them about all that discipleship would entail – not just enthusiastic acceptance by the multitudes, but the cross, pain and sacrifice of true discipleship. If the disciples don’t include the cross in their understanding of ministry they will fail as Jesus’ followers. At first, that’s what happens, because when Jesus meets his cross, they scatter. Mark was writing for a community that was facing the cross of persecution and his gospel is trying to show that early church and us, should not measure ourselves by worldly standards of success and failure. Maybe that is why Jesus is trying to pull his disciples away from the popularity spotlight -- to instruct them more fully on discipleship.

Maybe we too have to go against the tides of rush and busyness to evaluate our call to follow Jesus and the consequences it has on our lives. Even those of us who are already involved in church, or public service, must ask ourselves if there are people we are neglecting and other needs to address. Are there people or services we must attend to that might not be as noticed, or as lauded as what we are now doing -- but might be where we are being called to live out our discipleship? There are those of us who sense we are ministering in the right places and should continue doing so, whether at home, the public market place, or at our church. Nevertheless, Jesus is the shepherd who tends to the needs of disciples and calls us, now and then, to rest. He takes his flock to a “deserted place,” where they won’t be distracted and will be able to focus on the food he wants to give them – his presence and his word. As he is doing for us at every Eucharist. He sees that we need to gather around our Shepherd. He wants to give us what we must have to continue as his disciples. For some we may need more time to focus, reflect and be nourished. Surely our parish offers periods of retreat, renewal and input. And for those who can manage to get away, there are retreat houses and spirituality centers. There are various modern “deserted places,” where Jesus would be with us to help us gather our scattered spirits. Jesus sees the needy “vast crowd” and, as their shepherd, he decides to feed them. First, he will teach them, because their spirits need the food he has for them. Then he will give them food for their bodies. He immediately spots their more severe hungers for, “they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things.” Mark is showing us that Jesus is more than sufficient for us. You can sense the chaos and “lostness” of the people, they are a crowd – a leaderless and directionless crowd. They need a shepherd who can teach and direct them; bring order and vision to their lives. Jesus’ compassion is frequently stirred by a person’s physical condition, because they are blind, deaf, crippled, etc. But this crowd needs something even more important than a physical cure; they need to know and be with Jesus. Have you ever been with someone seriously ill and been moved by their calm faith? I wonder how they can seem so trusting in such dire straits? It is obvious their faith has another source, other than themselves. You sense that Jesus has taken notice of them, the way he did the crowd, “his heart was moved with pity for them....” You realize the sick person has been taught by Christ himself, given food in a “deserted place” that no one else could provide under the circumstances.

Jesus sees the vast and needy crowd and his first reaction isn’t annoyance at having the quiet break he planned for himself and his disciples interrupted. Instead, Mark tells us, when Jesus sees the crowd, “his heart was moved with pity for them.” Usually we don’t like the world “pity.” It sounds so condescending. When we really are annoyed with someone, a way of telling them how disgusted and disappointed we are is to say, “I pity you.” But we know, from Jesus’ subsequent care for the people, that his pity isn’t condescending. It is more a deep feeling of concern, like the kind that moves us to act on another’s behalf. We see or hear of another’s pain and we feel pity or compassion and decide to do something for them. This exchange between someone’s need and our response transcends the usual barriers that often separate humans: race, gender, nationality, economics, etc. When we feel pity for another, we are united with God whose compassion goes out to all God has created -- humans and the very earth itself.

Throughout Mark’s gospel those following Jesus are usually called “disciples.” But in today’s passage they are called “apostles.” It is the only time in the gospel that Mark uses this title. It’s a new name for them and suggests a new relationship with Jesus. The Shepherd is preparing “apostles,” then and now, those to be sent in his name to teach and act as he did.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• How do we create some more human and quiet spaces in our lives in the midst of the “din” we inhabit?
  Has this “din” gotten worse over the years?
• Does our reliance on gadgets to keep us connected to the larger world at all times ever inhibit our connection with those closest to us?
• What do we do about too many pressing needs, too many distractions, too little time, and sometimes too little energy?
• Why do we need to regroup our energies now and then?
  What do we do to get rest and nourishment for ourselves?
  What interferes with that?
• What is the role of prayer in providing you and me a respite or a rest?
  When I look at the people I encounter, are there any that “move me to compassion”?
• In the list of priorities, where do my needs fit in with the needs of others—and where do the needs of family members or work obligations interfere with the needs of the larger community?
  How important is it to me to attend to those who are not my family or friends, but who need some help?
  When do I feel I might have the time to do this?
  What are some of the “costs” of following Jesus?
  Do we think Jesus understands how difficult it sometimes is?
  What in this gospel reveals that?
• Mark 6:35ff. follows this passage with the story of the feeding of the five thousand (the loaves and fishes story). Where did that leave Jesus and the disciples in their quest for rest and relaxation?
  Where does that leave us as disciples of Jesus?
• What group or groups of people in our current day are like “sheep without a shepherd”?
  What would Jesus try to do for them?
  What do we try to do?
  What comes first: spiritual care or temporal care?
• Can we list the places and circumstances where ours is a “shepherding” role?
• There is a difference between being a disciple of Jesus and an apostle—disciple is one who engages in learning at the feet of the master; apostle means one who is sent out. Which are you?
• Which wisdom guides our most important decisions: the world’s or Jesus’?
• To what sources does the search for wisdom and guidance take me?
• If Jesus’ actions were motivated by love and love alone, what are my actions motivated by?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from Sacred Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

This is a gospel story for people busy caring for others. Jesus’ peace and quiet was disturbed by the crowds who needed him, but there were times when he just had to get away…

This is an image of many parents and people in helping profession, or those caring for a family member at home. We need rest and time to recharge the energy and love of the heart. But at times the needs of others take over. What we sometimes forget is that if we do not take care of ourselves, we lose the capacity for patience, the energy for interaction and a healthy perspective about just what we are doing and need to do. We lose our joy. Have I ever felt that time for myself was undeserved, and had to be reserved for a time when no one needed me? When I went too long without a respite, some down time, what was the result? Where does prayer fit into the equation?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Prayer time is an answer to Jesus’ invitation to come away and rest. Jesus invites me to come away from the distractions and busyness of my life and go into a quiet space where I can be with him. Jesus always listens to me and wants me to share my hopes, my disappointments, my successes, my failures, my dreams and my broken dreams… Try to journal for about 15 minutes each day this week, speaking from your heart, and letting Jesus just be with you. Rest in him.

Poetic Reflection:

In this poem, the late Denise Levertov captures how difficult it is for us to calm ourselves and to be in presence of the peace, quiet and comfort that is God:

“Flickering Mind”

Lord, not you
it is I who am absent.
At first
belief was a joy I kept in secret,
stealing alone
into sacred places:
a quick glance, and away—and back,
circling.
I have long since uttered your name
but now
I elude your presence.
I stop
to think about you, and my mind
at once
like a minnow darts away,
darts
into the shadows, into gleams that fret
unceasing over
the river’s purling and passing.
Not for one second
will my self hold still, but wanders
anywhere,
everywhere it can turn. Not you,
it is I am absent.
You are the stream, the fish, the light,
the pulsing shadow.
You the unchanging presence, in whom all
moves and changes.
How can I focus my flickering, perceive
at the fountain’s heart
the sapphire I know is there?

Closing Prayer

Lord, there are so many in my life who are needy and wanting my care and concern. [Take time to think of particular people.] Help me to be patient; help me to be attentive to those around me. But at other times, Jesus, help me to discipline myself to go to a quiet space in my heart where I may find you waiting. Help me to drop the mask, reflect on my life, and reflect on your love and concern for me, because you love me.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 14, 2024

Like the twelve apostles, we are sent out to spread the message of Jesus and trust in his care.

Mark 6:7–13

Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Music Meditations

• “Fan Into Flame” (John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
• “The Summons” (John L. Bell) [YouTube]
• “Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me” (Selah) [YouTube] (Contemporary music)

Opening Prayer

You have called us Lord, to carry on your work and to spread your message. Help us to see where we may be needed, to comfort, to proclaim, to witness. Give us courage and give us the right attitude to understand that what we do in your name is for you and by you, and not for and by ourselves.

Companions for the Journey

Excerpted from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province (2012 and 2024):

In last Sunday’s gospel Mark focused on Jesus’ rejection in his own hometown community. In response to their hostile reaction Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” This week Jesus sends the Twelve out to perform prophetic deeds and speak prophetic words.

Today’s gospel follows immediately upon last week’s. Mark is making a point: just as Jesus was rejected, so too, those sent in his name should expect the same treatment. When rejected and Jesus seems to expect they will be, they are to “… leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” In other words, we should not be surprised when our words or deeds in Jesus’ name meet rejection – Jesus expected that to happen.

The sending of apostles did not end when Jesus sent out the Twelve, or on the last pages of the four Gospels. We too have been summoned to advance the reign of God, to act and speak in the spirit of Jesus:

Today’s readings are all about a call to mission. I can hear you thinking, “Surely you don’t mean me? The sole journey I would take with only a walking stick would be a jaunt around the block.” Part and parcel with mission is the word “evangelization.” Look at the preamble to the USCCB mission statement which speaks to all Catholics: “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists to evangelize (Evangelii nuntiandi, 14). The mission of evangelization is entrusted by Christ to his Church to be carried out in all her forms of ministry, witness, and service. By evangelizing, the Church seeks to bring about in all Catholics such an enthusiasm for their faith that, in living their faith in Jesus and strengthened by the sacraments, most especially the celebration of the Eucharist, they freely share that faith with others to transform the world” (Based on Go and Make Disciples, A National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States, 1990). http://www.usccb.org/about/mission-statement.cfm

The word “evangelization” is a scary word for most lay Catholics, conjuring up street corner proselytizers. So let us re-examine this ancient concept of ministry. Evangelization has been reintroduced and redefined since the Vatican II Ecumenical Council and the 1975 Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Nuntiandi” (“The Gospel Must Be Proclaimed.”) by Paul VI. Evangelization has several components: first and foremost, love, love of God, love of others, love of self; then, invitation into a personal relationship with Jesus, ongoing conversion, conscious, active extension of ourselves and our communities and the nurture of spiritual growth within the context of a worshipping faith community, and the ministry of loving service to others.

The ministry of loving service to others is not just something we should do when we have spare time. As Pope Paul VI writes: How in fact can one proclaim the new commandment without promoting in justice and in peace the true, authentic advancement of man? We ourselves have taken care to point this out, by recalling that it is impossible to accept ‘that in evangelization one could or should ignore the importance of the problems … concerning justice, liberation, development and peace in the world. This would be to forget the lesson which comes to us from the Gospel concerning love of our neighbor who is suffering and in need (EN 31).

Let’s get out our walking sticks and change the world.

From Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director, Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries
Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC
2024

Further reflection:

• Reflection on 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) from Fr Paul O'Reilly, S.J. >>
• Reflection on Mark 6:7–13 at Sacred Space >> [sacredspace.ie]. Sacred Space is a ministry of the Irish Jesuits.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

He instructed them to take nothing for their journey but a walking stick

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• How come Jesus did not always pick the “best and the brightest” for his team of prophets?
  How powerful was their message?
• Who have been prophetic voices for us in our own lives?
  Were they the most theological, the holiest, or the most educated?
• How might the experience of people who have gone through disasters like personal displacement affect how they may hear this gospel text?
• From Jude Siciliano, O.P.:
  Where and to whom is Jesus sending me now?
  How am I telling the story of Jesus to the world by my words and example? (Jude Siciliano, O.P.)
• What is the role of preparation in the mission Christ is sending us on?
  How do we personally prepare?
• Is our culture, with its quest for still more possessions and the latest laptop distracting each of us from our mission as one sent to the world by Jesus?
  What “things” do I think I need in order to get through life?
  What reassurances do I think I need to go through life?
  What “baggage” do I have to unload to live out Christ’s mission?
  What must I leave behind, or change in my daily life, so that I can more effectively witness to Jesus?
  What is Jesus asking me to risk?
• Have I ever had to rely on the generosity of others for my survival?
  Did it help my mission or hinder it?
• How would you respond to a person who wanted you to do something but left you no real time for your personal needs?
  Have you ever responded to the needs of strangers that left you a bit vulnerable?
  Have you and your message ever been rejected?
  Where does Jesus fit into the above scenarios?
• Jesus sends us to be prophets, to call the world to repentance; the immediate world we occupy, as well as the larger worlds we are part of. Have I ever had an experience of “rejection” when trying to talk to someone about changing their own life?
  How did I react?
• What “slights” and “insults” do I have to shake off to make my heart free to do God’s work, whatever it is?
• It would seem from this gospel that Jesus wants us to change our behavior and also to drive out the demons that would destroy and lessen us as a people:
  There are plenty of “demons” we need to cast out of our society. What are some of them?
  The history of our church shows that it is not exempt from “demons” either – Which ones do we own up to?
  Which ones are we inclined to make excuses for or ignore altogether?
• This is a gospel about radical dependence on God. How is this message counter-cultural?
  Do I really believe Jesus is with me now and always?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Examen:

Adapted from Love: A Guide for Prayer, p.9:

The Examen of consciousness is the instrument by which we discover how God has been present to us and how we have responded to his presence throughout the day. St Ignatius believed this practice was so important that, in the event it was impossible to have a formal prayer period, it would sustain one’s vital link with God. The Examen of consciousness is not to be confused with the examination of conscience in which penitents are concerned with their failures. It is, rather, an exploration of how God is present within the events, circumstances and feelings of our daily lives.

Here is an excerpt from the dialogue that could take place at the end of each day. Your written response could be included in your prayer journal:

You have been present in my life today. Be near, as I now reflect on:

• Your presence in the events of today
• Your presence in the feelings I have experienced today
• Your call to me
• My response to you

What follows is a deeply private Examen for use during this week, reflecting on the gospel for the coming Sunday:

• Do I think of myself as an “apostle?”
• Does the way I live contradict or enhance the name of “Christian” that I bear?
• What do I need to change?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Dom Helder Camera, the Brazilian bishop and advocate for social justice on behalf of the poor said: “Watch how you live. Your lives may be the only gospels your listeners will ever encounter.” So I consider:

• Have I ever distorted the gospel by my actions?
• Where can I improve?
• I evaluate which of my possessions I no longer really need or am not using or wearing. What can I donate to a local thrift shop?
• What can I do this week to spread the gospel of hope and compassion to those around me?
• What can I do to help those trying to emulate the early apostles, (for example, those running the Catholic Worker House in Redwood city or the Rosie Rendu Center in East Palo Alto)?

Poetic Reflection:

This poetic meditation is from Fr. Michael Kennedy, written in 2006:

“Farewell Boogie”
(15th Sunday Ordinary Time)

There are
Many things that
Can lead us to be reluctant
In following the mission given
Us by a spouse or an employer
Or by a best friend so we try
To fulfill the task as soon
As possible and also as
Completely as we can
Since we really do
Not want to fail
Someone who is
That close
To us

But we also
Know that the harder
The task the higher the
Failure rate so we decide
Internally just exactly how
We will prepare for the inevitable
Disappointment that is sure to come
So we will say out loud that failure is
Possible but we will try as best we can
Implying clearly that the failure
Will be the fault of the one
Giving the mission
But our effort will
Be courageous
Anyway

And when Jesus
Gives orders to His
Followers He also makes a
Point to tell them they should
Not be offensive or aggressive
To those who do doubt their
Preaching but rather should
Just move on in a kind of

Gentle farewell
Boogie

Closing Prayer

I want to believe the psalmist, Lord, when he says
“The Lord himself will give his benefits; our land will yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him, and prepare the way of his steps.”
Lord, help me to see your kindness, help me bring your message to others of that kindness, and grant all of us the grace of your salvation.

Reflection on 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) from Fr Paul O'Reilly, S.J.

“Take nothing for the journey...”

I once met a rich young man.

You see, once upon a time, when I was young, fit and good looking – well all-right, about twenty-five years ago – I once cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats – from the South to the North of Great Britain – more than a thousand miles. And one day, I met an American tourist who was doing the same. But he was having a lot of problems with his bike and he was making very slow progress. So he asked me for my help. After about nine hundred painful miles, I knew pretty much everything that could go wrong with a bike.

Well, his bike was beautiful – very expensive and brand new – made with the very latest lightweight alloy steel with 18 gears! (I had to count them three times to be sure.) And it had double disc brakes and lights that come on automatically when it got dark. And when you rode it, it was as smooth as a Mercedes. (Well, I’ve never actually been in a Mercedes, but I’m pretty sure this is what it must feel like.) So I brought it back to him to tell him that there was nothing wrong with his bicycle – but if he wanted to swap it for mine, I could see my way clear to arranging that.

“Yes”, he said, “it’s fine now, but when you put the load on you can hardly get to move at all.”

So I asked: “Well, what is the load?”

He showed me – it weighed one hundred and forty two pounds! That’s ten stone! That’s an extra person!

So I said, “No wonder you are not making progress, you are carrying far too much weight.”

And he said: “Well, I know it’s a lot, but I really need it all.”

And so I had to say to him: “My friend, how much do you really want to get to where you’re going?”

He thought for a moment and said “I really want to get there.”

So I asked him: “Then what are you going to have to do with all this weight you are carrying?”

At this, a look of intense pain came across his face. There was a loooong silence. And eventually he said: “I’m going to have to lose some of it, amn’t I?”

So together we divided all his stuff into two piles – one pile of the stuff that was helping him get to where he was going – and another of the stuff that was holding him back. It wasn’t always easy to decide what to put in each pile. Sometimes we had to give an item the benefit of the doubt. But even so, I think you can guess which was the bigger pile. And then we had a big sale! I would like to be able to tell you that he then gave the money to the poor (that is of course ME!) but that didn’t quite happen – Americans aren’t stupid, you know!

Next day I agreed to cycle with him for the first hour. There were a lot of hills to start with and he went up them like he was in a Mercedes and I trailed behind. After an hour, he was past me and gone. I never saw him again.

But he left me with a question that I try to ask myself about once a year. To list all of my possessions and ask: “Which of these are really helping me to get to where I am going and which are just holding me back?” Because all of us have places we want to get to in life. All of us have our John O’Groats. And it is very hard for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven, or even to John O’Groats. And that is nothing to do with God not loving rich people – it’s just the law of gravity.

Ignatius says that realisation is the Principle and Foundation of his way of life. I saw it recently translated like this:

“Human beings are created to praise, reverence and serve God, Our Lord, and by this means to become the people God created us to be. All other created things on the face of the earth exist to help us to achieve this End for which we are created. Accordingly, we should make use of them only insofar as they assist us to become the people God created us to be. And we should rid ourselves of them whenever they prevent us from achieving our End.

Therefore we should hold ourselves indifferent to all created things, having or not having them only according to the Will of the Lord.”

That is not an easy ideal. Believe me – in this matter, I speak as one who knows. But it is the ideal of all Christian stewardship that everything we have in this world, we have as gift from God and on trust from our children.

—Paul O’Reilly, SJ  <fatbaldnproud@opalityone.net>

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 7, 2024

What damage lack of understanding does, either to me or by me

Mark 6:1–6

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?

Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”

He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Music Meditations

• “Open My Eyes, Lord” (by Jesse Manibusan) [YouTube]
• “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” (by Matt Redman) [YouTube]
• “Lead Me Lord” (by Basil Valdez) [YouTube]
• “How Can We Be Silent?” (Michael Mahler)

Opening Prayer

Reflection on Psalm 123:4,5:

“Have mercy on us Lord, have mercy on us, for we are filled with contempt; our souls are more than sated with the mockery of the arrogant, with the contempt of the proud…” Lord, save us from ourselves, from our cynicism about the motives of others, and our lack of faith in the goodness and kindness of others. May we use your example of rejection by your friends and family to increase our patience and understanding of these closest to us—to avoid dismissing them and their ideas out of hand, and to avoid giving up when we are not always appreciated by those closest to us.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Most people are not very knowledgeable about Israel’s history, nor can they name the great kings who ruled and misruled. But, I bet even these non-Bible readers can name at least a few of the prophets. The prophets have made their mark on the formation of God’s people through the centuries, right up to the present time. Today’s first reading narrates the call of the great prophet Ezekiel. Four times he tells about the occasions when God called him. All of these accounts tell of how God is sending him to preach to the hardhearted and rebellious Israelites. On our own we humans are not up to the important, and sometimes, life-threatening task of prophesying. But God’s call to Ezekiel and to the other prophets always includes help—big help!—the gift of God’s Spirit. Ezekiel tells with wonder of the moment when God gifted him: “the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet.” He’s not just talking about standing upright, is he? A prophet in any age, including our own, also needs the same life-giving and fortifying spirit Ezekiel received—to stand us up on our feet. When we are called upon to speak up for: the rights of others, conformity to God’s law and comfort for the afflicted, we need help, lest our own spirit shrink from the task. Being a prophet, even in the confines of our homes, workplace, church community, or civil setting, is a risky and, some would say, a foolish business. People don’t like to change their ways of acting and thinking and they don’t like the one calling them to make those changes.

Which takes us to today’s gospel. As I drive around our Texas roads and highways I see bumper stickers that say, “My boss is a Jewish carpenter”; church bulletin boards read, “Jesus saves!” Large billboards along the roads invoke the name of Jesus and make promises to those who believe in him. People all know something about Jesus; his reputation for cures, and his wise sayings. Statues and paintings depict him in both private and public places. It seems good that the one who was sent from God and was God-in-flesh is so much a part of our lives. We have many reminders of him. But there is a way he can be everywhere, but nowhere. Familiarity can breathe indifference. He can be so present that he just fits comfortably into the background of our lives, like wallpaper, our washing machine, the McDonald’s just a few blocks away, and our evening newscaster. We can say, as the people did in his native place, “Oh sure, we know Jesus. He’s one of us. He has been around for years.” In our “native place,” we have lots on our minds that take up our every waking moment. There is a danger that we miss Jesus’ among us, because he so familiar to us, so much part of the furnishings of our lives—and we have other things on our minds. Perhaps today’s gospel will open our eyes to what we are missing—whom we are missing. Notice the parallels to our own lives. Jesus returns to a place where people are very familiar with him. (“Sisters” and “brothers” may have been his cousins in the close knit community in which he was raised.) They know his trade, he’s the carpenter. They know he has done mighty deeds and is noted for his wisdom. Before he left to go preaching he was part of the local scene, someone they would have spoken with daily. Maybe he even repaired a roof, or made a chair for them. They probably even liked him.

But they weren’t willing to take the important next step—beyond familiarity, beyond knowing the facts about him. They weren’t willing to believe that, despite his most ordinary appearances and his, up till then, most ordinary life, that in Jesus, God had entered their lives. God was there ready to perform powerful deeds on their behalf, willing to share a wisdom with them they could not achieve on their own. What a difference it would have made had they accepted what he was bringing to them! They would have seen themselves and one another, as God-loved. They would have treated each other differently, the way Jesus treated people. They might have changed their priorities and not measured themselves, or others, by the size of their homes, property, or their standing in the community. Nothing would have been the same for them, because they would have known God, by knowing God in Jesus.

Maybe we can look again at the familiar billboard signs by the roadside—“Jesus saves”—and ask “From what?” Saves us from going down blind alleys. Saves us from aimlessness. Saves us from guilt and self-incrimination. Saves us from missing our God, who comes in the most everyday and ordinary ways to us—those familiar faces in our own “native place.”

Further reflection:

• Commentary on Mark 6:1–6 from “Living Space” >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Is there a real danger in “missing” Jesus because he and his story are so familiar to us that we fail to see what he is really telling us and mirroring for us?
• Today, how do we rediscover Jesus in such a way that we hear his teaching with new ears, witness his mighty deeds with new eyes, and experience him with a new heart?
• Mark seems to indicate that Jesus’ ability was affected by the lack of acceptance of the people.
  Do you think this is an accurate reading of what went in with Jesus in this instance?
  Can something like this happen in our own lives?
• Who are the people that you hold in esteem?
  Do they have that position because of their talents?
  Because of what they have accomplished?
  Because you know their family?
• Are there places in your life where people are performing well but are still not held in esteem?
  Has this ever been the case in your life?
  What does this gospel suggest to you?
• Among those you hold in esteem, are there people who have behaviors sometimes contrary to the socially accepted norms?
  How is your perception of these people similar to the people of Nazareth described in the text?
  How is it different?
• What can I do to avoid a belittling of the accomplishments of someone close to me because I am the tiniest bit jealous of what that person has achieved?
  What can I do to be more tolerant in my own circle of family and friends?
• What effect did that have on you at the time?
  What did that experience teach you about yourself?
• Some people say it is harder to be a practicing Christian in their own homes among family members, than in their workplace or among their friends. Why would this be so? (—Paul Gallagher, OFM and Nancy Greenfield)
• Have I ever not said or not done what was right because I was afraid how others react?
  When have I had to do what I thought was right and found even those closest to me did not support me?
• What “mighty deed” do I need in my life right now?
  Dare I ask from my faith for the next “mighty deed” Jesus can do for me?
  A more lively faith?
  Resolution of some conflict?
  Better listening skills?
  Less anxiety about the future, etc.?
• Do I have faith enough to ask?
• From Jude siciliano, O.P.:
  What must I do to make some room for Jesus to work a “mighty deed?”
• From Paul Gallagher, OFM:
  Mark seems to indicate that Jesus’ ability was affected by the lack of acceptance of the people. How do you understand this aspect of the text?
  What does it suggest about how God is working in your life, your community and your world today?
  Do you get any insights from the fact that people, who knew Jesus and his family best, were not able to see in him anything beyond what they already knew?
• From Paul Gallagher, OFM:
  I wonder who, in our parish, are those prophets trying to get a word from God to us?
  Are they the ones who: challenge our poorly prepared liturgies; complain about the preaching; insist on reaching out to the newcomers who make the regulars uncomfortable; ask why we aren’t making better use of the internet to reach people; visit the sick and speak words of comfort to them; diligently prepare and proclaim the scripture readings at our services, etc?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style:

The Dominicans are known as the Order of Preachers. However, this reflection on how each of us is called to preach is worth praying about: A preaching student once wrote this for herself; she gave Father Jude, O.P., permission to share it. Write your own statement of how you want to preach as Jesus did.

Ministry Statement

As a preacher, I choose to respond affirmatively to God’s call
to proclaim the Good News with my entire being.
I trust that the people of God will assist me in this process.
I would like to be a preacher that is in touch with self, God and others
that listens attentively, even to the silence
that speaks words of comfort when needed
that gives voice to the needs of the voiceless
that studies, prays, and lives God’s Word
that simply tries to walk the talk
Or as Micah says it, that acts justly, loves tenderly and walks humbly with God
that dies gratefully and confidently having known and shared the love of God.
To be this kind of preacher I will need to
Prepare
Practice
Persevere
Put heads together
Pray
Place trust in self, God and others
Preach
Play
Peer creatively into the book of life
Paint with living words on the canvas of life.

—Jan Dworschak (Jan does ministry and preaching in the San Francisco area.)

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Freely adapted from “First Impressions 2024”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

I imagine that I am Jesus preaching in the synagogue, having returned back to my dusty little village after abruptly leaving a while ago, called by the Spirit to teach to comfort, to heal. I am met with a certain amount of resistance as I stand there in the synagogue. It is understandable, I suppose. A son is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps – but not go beyond them. If a boy’s father is a carpenter, then the son is to be one as well – but nothing more. It would seem that the people in the synagogue sort of recognize the wisdom I am speaking, and for a moment, I thought they would applaud. But they don’t.. After all, I am the carpenter, how could I be anything more? I did not fail to notice the off-handed insult: They call me Jesus, Mary’s son, not Joseph’s. In my culture, a son would be identified by his father, so they are suggesting some doubts about the true identity of my father. More scorn. It is subtle, but I feel it. The crowd is not very receptive to a local boy who seems to have gone beyond the expected limits. I bring them up short by telling them that it takes outsiders to see what the locals refuse to see. But it is really hard to be rejected by the people who know us the best. The people’s rejection of me has even limited my ability to perform powerful deeds among them. Their lack of faith means I will leave this place, since I am ineffective here.

Faith is a risky business and may require us to take unpopular positions. There are times when we may alienate even family and friends because our faith requires we speak up or take a stand. So we ask ourselves: Have I ever not said or not done what was right because I was afraid how others would react?
When have I had to do what I thought was right and found even those closest to me did not support me?
I share those moments with Jesus.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Adapted from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford (2004):

I make an inventory of the gifts and talents that I possess. Realizing that my gifts and talents are not given to me for my benefit alone, I resolve to give freely something of myself to someone else this week. It could be help to someone who is struggling with anxiety, visiting someone who is ill or lonely. It could be a trip home to visit with a family member who is lonely, but difficult to take. In deciding what to use my particular talents for, I choose generosity of spirit, forgiveness and kindness over retaliation and envy.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Adapted from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

It is hard to be rejected by the people who know us the best.

Some people say it is harder to be a practicing Christian in their own homes among family members, than in their workplace or among their friends. “My kids won’t listen to me.” “My brothers and sisters think I am a religious nut.” “My wife refuses to come to church with me.” – and so it goes. “A prophet is not without honor except in his/her native place.” We are reminded of Ezekiel. If prophets, whether in the civic or domestic arena, can expect hard times and even rejection, then we need to implore God for the gift of the Spirit, to “set” us on our feet, so we can live faithful lives in our land of exile – and more – so we can sustain other exiles in their search for God and their desire to do God’s will. Take some time this week to talk to Jesus about this.

Poetic Reflection:

It wasn’t only the people of Nazareth who failed to heed the word of Jesus; we have all been guilty:

Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the garden
Speaking to the sacred trees
Their branches bear his light
Without harm

Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the ruins
Seeking the lost disciple
A timid one
Too literate
To believe words
So he hides
Christ rises on the cornfields
It is only the harvest moon
The disciple
Turns over in his sleep
And murmurs:
“My regret!”

The disciple will awaken
When he knows history
But slowly, slowly
The Lord of History weeps into the fire

—Thomas Merton “Cables to the Ace” (stanza 80)

Poetic Reflection:

Father Michael Kennedy, S.J., delivers an interesting take on today’s gospel story:

“Our Astonishment Arouses Anger”
(14th Sunday Ordinary time)

People-watching is
Not only fun it is wonderfully
Informative if you take in the
Environment surrounding those
Who are being observed for their
Behavior can be directly affected
By the whole scene and not just
By the internal engine
Moving the people
Across the screen
Of the watcher

It is especially
Interesting when someone
Known by others nearby is easily
Dismissed as not being extraordinary
Enough to be considered someone
To be honored or believed as if He
Is more than just common and
Soon His motives are
Suspect and seen to
Be an attempt to be
Bigger than His
Carpenter jeans

But the reaction of
The people in His hometown
Is not unusual at all for we seem
To always doubt that miracles and
Divine activity could ever come
From the utterly common thing
Or Person and it is a way of not
Accepting the Truth if we will
Not admit that Grace enfleshes
The simple ordinary every day
And we often miss it as we
Let our shallow awe not
Turn to faith but we see
That our astonishment
Arouses anger

Closing Prayer

From “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Lord, I pray that I may recognize your presence in the ordinary encounters of my day, and notice the ways through which you desire to nourish me and give me life, because you are present in all things. Help me to see the depths in each of those I encounter, those I think I know very well, that only you can glimpse. Help me to be open to others.