22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 1, 2024

It is not one’s rituals and outward holiness that count, it is one’s inner heart and deeds that count

Mark 7: 1–8, 14–15, 21–23

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.

(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders.

And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles [and beds].)

So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”

He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.’

You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand.

Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.

All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Music Meditations

• Psalm 15—Psalm Project
• Open My Eyes Lord
• Kyrie Eleison—Chris Tomlin
• Those who do Justice Will Live in the Presence of God
• Create in Me a Clean Heart, Oh God—Maranatha Singers

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord, help me to love all as myself.

Help me to rest in humility and to find peace in withdrawal from conflict and competition.

Help me to turn aside from controversy and put away heavy loads of judgement and censorship and criticism and the whole burden of opinions I have no obligation to carry.

(Adapted from Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, pp 44-46 excerpted.)

Companions for the Journey

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

When people approached Jesus with sincere questions he gave them a response. He even responded to some Pharisees who seemed to be sincere in their inquiries. For example, when they asked him about divorce (10:2-12). To the rich man, who asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to share in everlasting life?” Jesus responded and engaged the man in a searching reflection (10:17-25).

But today Jesus doesn’t seem as patient or tolerant with the Pharisees and scribes questioning him about his disciples’ lack of ritual cleansing at meals. These religious authorities don’t seem as sincere as others who were searchers and came to Jesus for guidance. The Pharisees were on a mission, and is not just to speculate about religious customs with Jesus.

Mark tells us these critics came from Jerusalem up to Galilee. Jesus was drawing crowds wherever he went in the rural areas among the poor and unlettered; people who didn’t know or practice the niceties the elders of the religious establishment in Jerusalem had decreed were required observances for devout Jews. The stories at this point in Mark show Jesus’ popularity was even spreading to the Gentile population – another threat to the establishment. As if to underline this, the next story in his narrative is about the Canaanite woman, a Gentile who came beseeching Jesus to heal her daughter of an unclean spirit – he does.

The religious authorities in Jerusalem would have liked more order and conformity to the tradition of the elders. Mark seems to be writing for a wider audience, non-Jews, because he takes some time to explain what those religious rules were. Jesus accuses the Pharisees and scribes of being more concerned with ceremonial regulation, “the tradition of the elders,” than with the Commandments of God. Unlike other, more sincere seekers, these legalists were trying to paint Jesus as a breaker of the religious laws. They are on the attack, as they will continue to be throughout this gospel.

Jesus, on the other hand, bypasses their question about handwashing and goes to the heart of the issue: those who are challenging him are holding onto “human tradition,” but should have been spending more time and energy teaching the deeper requirements of love, compassion and justice which God requires. He quotes Isaiah, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Today’s selection skips over verses 9-13. It’s a shame, because they refer to the Corban doctrine. That teaching of some rabbis undermined children’s requirements to care for their parents, while the Commandments require children to honor their parents (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). It is not certain how often the Corban exemption was actually practiced, but Jesus shows the cruelty that can be tolerated in the very tradition the Pharisees were defending. Is it possible that some of our religious practices are performed out of habit because “we have always done it this way,” but no longer address the values for which they were originally designed to protect or instill in us?

The washing of hands and eating utensils is a current concern for people of our time and especially in our culture. During flu season we carry tiny bottles of Purex in our pockets or purses to kill germs on our hands when we are about to eat outside our homes. Some parishes have an antibacterial liquid on the side credence table in the sanctuary so the priest and Eucharistic ministers can cleanse their hands before distributing the Eucharistic bread and cup. Obviously, Jesus wasn’t talking about proper sanitary procedures for eating and drinking, but with the preoccupation with ritual that overrides the spirit of God’s law.

He gathers the crowd again to spell it out for them. It’s not what we eat or drink that defiles us, but what comes out of a person. Food, we are reminded these days, can have deleterious effects on the body. It can injure the heart – too much salt, fat or sugar in the diet. But obviously Jesus isn’t talking about some physical foods’ and their bad effects on our physical heart. He’s naming the effects that come out of our spiritual hearts; evil behavior is produced by evil hearts. If we follow all the rules according to the letter of the law we might feel quite satisfied with ourselves and are tempted to think we had gotten ourselves right with God – after all, we did everything properly.

But, while decorum and dignified ritual are part of our religious practice, God is more concerned with a deeper cleansing and purifying. If our hearts can be purified, the prayer and behavior that flow from them will be exactly what God has in mind for us. If we act out of the intentions of good hearts we will know how to behave, even if we don’t know the exact rule for this or that situation.

Today’s gospel passage is a reminder that some good traditions are helpful guides for our behavior. We were taught them as children and are guided by them still: going to church on Sunday; grace before meals; family prayers; a rosary in our pocket; daily Scripture reading; a lighted candle before an icon at home; bread blessings on feast days of patronal saints, etc. Some many good, prayerful customs, done over and over seep into our hearts and are life-giving. The fruits of a good heart are good deeds done instinctively each day.

Jesus gives a pretty good list of behavior that flows from hearts that are “defiled.” The “Anchor Bible Commentary” on Mark notes that examples of lists of vices were common in Greek literature. Concerning this passage it says, “The nouns which follow – twelve in all – contain six plural examples, indicating evil actions, and six singular, describing generic vices” (page 317). In other words, this is a thorough list and it would have been a useful guide to the early community for whom Mark was writing.

Jesus puts priority on human relationships and has shown them to be sacred. That’s where we turn to law and tradition, to lists of vices and virtues, to guide us how to live well together in community. He wasn’t teaching us to disregard human laws and traditions. Instead, his focus is less on the external rules and more on internal realities.

The gospel challenges us to look to our heart where our true identity lies. Some people practice exquisite etiquette and proper speech, but in their hearts a good number of Jesus’ list of vices have taken root. It’s not just that they deceive others, but they have deceived themselves as well. We need to develop our consciences according to the spirit of Jesus; to find ways to name the evils that reside in our heart under the guise of self-interest, family values, patriotism, and, according to today’s gospel, religious practices.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me

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

• The disciples were no very sophisticated religiously, and they probably did not observe too carefully all of the 613 precepts that the Pharisees did. Did that make them “bad” Jews?
  Did the observation of those 613 precepts make the Pharisees better than others?
• Do we sometimes judge people on their outward piety, or lack of it?
• How do people honor God with their lips, but have hearts afar from God (Isaiah)?
• Where, as a church, have our priorities for kindness and charity to others sometimes been misplaced by emphasis on dress, posture, correctness?
• In our culture, what kinds of people do we admire?
• What defines a “good person”?
  Were the Pharisees good people?
• What does it mean to “walk humbly with the Lord”? (Micah 6)
• What does it mean to do justice?
  How important is justice in the priorities of our civil leaders? Our spiritual Leaders? Our cultural heroes? Our own lives?
• How is the heart a symbol for our soul?
  Can you say you love God and harbor dislike or contempt for someone in your heart?
• What “good things” can come out of us?
  What “bad things” can?
• From “First Impressions 2003”:
  Have some of my religious practices become rote, more the force of habit than anything else?
• From Invitation to Mark, by Rev Paul Achtemeier:
  Do we run into any danger of allowing religious rules to get in the way of doing God’s will?
• Am I so worried about being “correct” in my prayers that they sometimes lack honesty?
• Am I so concerned about the correctness of a religious experience that I sometimes miss the experience itself?
• What religious practices of other people bother me?
• Do I tend to judge others on their piety, or lack thereof?
• What is spiritual arrogance?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Pharisees have not been well regarded by Christianity as a whole, but the fact is, they were very religious people. God really was the center of their lives. These were, in the main, good people. The problem occurred because they thought they knew God better than anyone else and proceeded to judge others and exclude others according to their own religious standards. Spiritual arrogance was a failing of theirs, and is a problem for many of us, whether we realize it or not. Have I been confidently smug about my relationship with God because I appear to be a good person, and observe all the correct rituals? I reflect on a time when I have been judgmental about another person who made a decision or engaged in a practice that I thought was misguided or just plain wrong. Have I ever made a judgement about someone only to realize later that I did not get the story straight? Did I share my judgement with others and injure this person’s reputation? Have I been the “rules police” for others in my local church community? Have I ever honored God with my lips, while my heart was far away?

Adapted from: Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford, by Anne Marchand Greenfield

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Consideration:

In New Seeds of Contemplation Thomas Merton said:

And now I am thinking of the disease which is spiritual pride. I am thinking of the particular unreality that gets into the hearts of saints and eats their sanctity away before it is mature. There is something of this worm in the hearts of all religious [people]. As soon as they have done something which they know to be good in the eyes of God, they tend to take its reality unto themselves and make it their own. They tend to destroy their virtues by claiming them for themselves and clothing their own private illusion of themselves with values that belong to God. Who can escape the desire to breathe a different atmosphere from the rest of [humanity]? (p. 49) The saints are what they are not because their sanctity makes them admirable to others, but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire everybody else (p.57).

I consider the gifts I have been given, and reflect on how they have shaped my life and my relationships for the better. I speak to God about those particular gifts, being careful to recognize God as the author and giver of those same gifts. In this exercise of thanksgiving, I am particularly careful to avoid smugness and to avoid comparing myself to others. I also consider the qualities I possess which are sometimes less than admirable. How have those shaped me as well? I thank God for the lessons I have learned from the mistakes I have made and the lessons I have learned by confronting selfish tendencies I have worked to overcome. I remind myself that I am a work in progress and thank God for the patience and understanding shown me.

Adapted from: Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford, by Anne Marchand Greenfield

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship

Pray this Litany every day this week:

“Litany of Humility”

Author: Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val y Zulueta

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, O Jesus. That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be praised and I go unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Poetic Reflection:

What does the poem by Father Ed Ingebretzen, S.J. tell us about our attempts to love as Jesus loves?

“Lonely Christ”

Lonely Christ
I pray to you.
You are a puzzle to me
as those I love
always are.

My soul is at odds
with the words.
What mad reach of mine
touches any thread of you?
Or what of mine, arms or eyes,
ever shares with people
where they may lie—
as they always do—
in a hard place!

What of mine shall make good
their taking of a breath,
their rising, caring, feeding
their sleeping in fear—
what shall make good
their slight faith,
their enormous promises
made in iron
for a child, man, a woman—

what of mine shall be with the people
as they caress a special grief
fondled again and again
In bludgeoned love?

What do I bring
with which to clutch
the merest hint of your shadow?

Closing Prayer

Keep us, O God, from all pettiness.
Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.
Let us be done with fault-finding and leave off all self-seeking.
May we put away all pretense and meet each other face-to-face,
Without self pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgment, always generous.
Let us take time for all things, and make us grow calm, serene, and gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses, to be straight-forward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize that it is the little things of life that create differences,
That in the big things of life we are one.
And, Lord, God, let us not forget to be Kind.

Prayer of Mary, Queen of Scots

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 18, 2024

Eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood is the way to remain in Jesus and Him in us

John 6:51–58

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Notes:

“Eats”—the verb used in verses 54-58 is not the classical Greek verb used of human eating, but that of animal eating: “munch,” “gnaw.” This may be part of John’s emphasis on the reality of the flesh and blood of Jesus (cf. Jn 6:55), but the same verb eventually became the ordinary verb in Greek meaning “eat.”

Music Meditations

• Come, Thou Font of Every Blessing
• Halleluya! We Sing Your Praises—OCP Session Choir
• Gift of Finest Wheat
• Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring—Josh Groban and others

Opening Prayer

Adapted from Pope Benedict XVI:

Help us to rediscover you, O Lord. You are God with a human face. When we seek you, find you, follow you, Jesus, we indeed see God.

You are our everlasting gift.

Companions for the Journey

This is taken from “First Impressions” 2009, a preaching service of the Southern Dominican Province.

John’s gospel does not have the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. The three Synoptics do, so John, the last gospel written, presumes we know that story. What John has in chapter 6 to is the “Bread of Life Discourse.” In the discourse the theme of Wisdom (verses 35 – 50) is blended with the eucharistic theme – as seen in today’s reading. The language in today’s section of the Discourse shifts, with the occurrence of words like: “eat,” “food,” “drink,” “flesh,” “blood.” The language has become literal, even crude. Jesus’ realism in this passage stirs controversy among his listeners. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

We have heard these expressions so frequently in our liturgical, biblical and faith language and have become accustomed to them. But we miss the shock value they had on their original hearers. Today’s gospel captures some of the impact of Jesus’ words on his contemporaries. The crowds take Jesus’ words literally and later we behold that many of his own disciples turn away from him because of what he said. That there should be arguments over the meaning of Jesus’s words should not surprise us: we still have disagreements among Christian denominations over how to interpret what he meant.

The “Bread of Life Discourse” was prompted by Jesus’ feeding the crowd with real bread. That got their attention; he satisfied their physical hunger. But that was only a starting point for further conversation about another kind of brea he would give us – himself. This is the bread that would feed our deepest hungers. To convey the reality of that kind of feeding, Jesus’ language becomes more concrete. We will hear it again at this Eucharist: “Take... and eat, this is my body. Take... and drink, this is my blood.”

Is there anything Jesus is holding back from us? How much more could he give than his “flesh and blood” -- his whole self? Can we hear in Jesus’s words and self-giving how close God wants to get to us? God’s very life mingles with our lives so that our lives can become one with God’s. Jesus makes that promise to us: eating his flesh and drinking his blood gives us eternal life – not only life on and on forever, as much as deep life – full life -- right now. No waiting, eternal life begins now!

Let’s hope that the eating and drinking we do at the Eucharist today will jar our memories so that we remember and act on Jesus’ teachings. Let’s also hope that this meal keeps us connected to the One who gave himself so that we can begin to share now in God’s gift of eternal life. The food and drink, the body and blood, we eat and drink should draw us believers closer together as a community. Jesus’ reference to his blood refers to the life he will pour out for us on the cross. We who partake in the meal are challenged to look beyond ourselves, as he did, to see the needs of the world around us for which he gave his life. We eat and drink because we believe. Others should see that faith enfleshed in our words and actions. We cannot live Jesus’ life without eating from the table he has set for us -- his body and blood. So, let us, the hungry, approach the table Wisdom has set for us at this Eucharist.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life in you.

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

• Are theological questions ever a distraction so that people can evade the implications of what they are hearing?
• How can Jesus give us his flesh to eat?
• Are we slightly repulsed by the image of eating the flesh of Jesus? (as the Jews were)?
• How do I experience the Eucharist?
  How central ls it in my life?
  How has this concept divided Christian denominations?
• Do I believe that Jesus becomes part of me and I become part of Him through the gift of the Eucharist?
• How would you describe your spiritual life... Satisfying? Malnourished? Starving?
• What do you do and where do you go to feed your spirit?
• In what ways do we try to satisfy our thirst for understanding?? (theology, philosophy, prayer, openness of spirit being with those in need, etc.)
• What does Holy Wisdom offer us?
• To what sort of people does wisdom extend an invitation?
• To what sort of people does Jesus extend an invitation to partake in His very self?
  What do we have to do to earn it?
• This discourse comes after Jesus has fed everyone with real bread. What does that tell us about what our priority should be in evangelizing to others?
• What is the role of real hunger in human experience?
• What is the role of spiritual hunger in human experience?
• Do I get in this gospel how God wants to get to me, to be with me completely?
  Why or why not?
• When does eternal life with God begin?
  How do we share it?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

This section from John emphasizes the personal relationship of the communicant with Jesus over any community dimension. Read the other, earlier, Gospel accounts (Matt 26:14-16; Mark 14: 10-11; Luke 22: 14-20) and compare their understanding of the Eucharist with that of John. Then compare this passage to the instructions given to the Corinthians by St. Paul (1 Corinthians 11). Which of these is closest to your understanding of the Eucharist?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

From Sacred Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

There was once a king who engaged a street artist to make a painting of the Last Supper. He wanted a picture of Jesus and his friends at their farewell meal for his banqueting room. The artist had Jesus and his friends around the supper table, but he also included all kinds of people around the table, showing people from many races. There were people who were sick, lame and crippled; men and women; young and old; beggars and misfits and some not very nice people. When the King saw the painting he went into a rage, and shouted at the artist, ‘Of what is this a painting?’ The artist said ‘Your Highness, this is a painting of God who delights in all people:; all saints and all sorts are welcomed to the Kingdom and the earthly banquet...and that is my understanding of the Last Supper, Holy Communion and Eucharist.’

Personal Meditation:

Paul Crowley, S.J., taught the two CC@S classes through the religious studies department several years ago. At the time of this homily, he was battling a very serious disease, (which ultimately caused his death shortly after this homily was delivered) and sent this section to his friends and family. I thought people might like to have it:

We do not need to live to see all our desires—personal and otherwise—fully realized. We need only ask: What more can I do with what remains of this precious life that I have been given? Even if I am sixteen, sixty, eighty—or even if I am dying? Help me—help us—look beyond the earthly bread that can satisfy only a little, and toward the Bread that alone can satisfy beyond imagining—the Bread that leaves us asking not for more from God, in a spirit of anxiety, but rather what more can we give to God, in a spirit of gratitude.

The Psalmist poses all this as a simple question, and one that we might turn around in our hearts: “What return can I possibly make to the Lord for all of his goodness to me?” (Ps 116).

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Theology is important; it helps us understand the mystery that is God, the mystery of God’s gift to us through Jesus. It helps us take seriously Jesus gift of Himself in the Eucharist. Nonetheless, it is too easy to get caught up in the theology of this Sunday’s gospel, rich as it is, and forget that the Real Presence is an encounter of the heart, and ignore the response that is expected of us in return. This homily by Father Brian Gleeson, CP, is a call to respond to the gift that is the real Jesus in the Eucharist:

HOLY COMMUNION, A PACKAGE DEAL: 20TH SUNDAY B

A homily by Brain Gleeson, CP, from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

The message of Jesus to us today is a promise. He promises to be for us just what he is. He’s our Bread of Life, and he promises to be our nourishment, sustenance and support, all along our journey of life. Unlike some people, perhaps ourselves, Jesus keeps his promises. So today let us move in our thoughts to where he keeps his promise, the Upper Room in Jerusalem. As Jesus is about to take leave of his disciples, and submit to the suffering and death which awaits him, he shows his intention to continue to be present to his friends and followers, but in a new and different way. The new form of his presence will be the bread and wine of a community meal celebrated in his memory. Just as human beings must eat and drink if they are to stay alive, so must the followers of Jesus eat and drink if they are to live by his teachings and example, and remain united with their Lord and one another. In becoming food and drink for their journey to God Jesus adapts himself to the need which all human beings have to both eat and drink in order to stay alive and well. This is to say that the new form of his presence will be one based on nourishment and refreshment, and will involve both eating and drinking. It’s important to remember, however, that communion with Jesus is not simply a private conversation with him. No, it’s a package deal. When we receive and meet the risen Christ in Holy Communion, we are challenged to open our hearts to everyone else who belongs to Jesus, to everyone else who shares the same food and drink in the same meal, and to everyone else who forms one body with him.

We are challenged to love others as he loves them. For this reason some words that have been put on the lips of Jesus by an anonymous writer seem very much to the point. Let’s hear him saying those words to you and me now:

I tried to catch your attention this morning.     Remember when you came back to your seat and closed your eyes and  put your head down and talked and talked to me?     I wanted you to listen.     I wanted to tell you to open your eyes and look at my broken body  all around you.     I tried to catch your attention that time the toddler stood on the  seat and spoke to you, but you gave me a dirty look and humiliated me  and didn't hear me.     I was the unmarried mother at the end of your seat, the old man in  front of you, the family of seven children across the aisle from you -  and I almost had the impression you disapproved of me.     I was the woman in the green coat whose husband left her this week  and whose heart was being eaten out right through Mass, and a friendly  smile or word would have been a little support to me.     I am your wife who cooked the lunch and coped with the children and  all the burdens of the house while you read the Sunday newspaper and  then went out.     I am your husband and your children and you stamped and huffed and  gave us your cold silent treatment for three and a half long hours after  Mass. You blackened and deadened the whole atmosphere of our home.     I am your mother and father and you have ignored and mocked and  criticized and tortured as only a teenager knows how.     I am your teenage son whom you've lost belief in and your nagging is  driving me crazy.     I am your next-door neighbor whom you spend so much time gossiping  about and criticizing.     I am your fellow parishioner whom you meet every day in the street  and you ignore me, busy about your own concerns.     And it sickens me, all the coldness, all the squabbling and division  and those endless running battles that scourge me and crown me with  thorns. And then you pierce my side at Holy Communion with your empty  words of love.     If you love me, feed my sheep, my starving sheep, and start in your  own home.     Please don't keep me at bay any longer.     Don't talk to me. Listen.     I don't want you to go on loving my spirit and ignoring my body. I  don't want you to open your mouth to receive my body and close your eyes  and ears to shut it out.     When will you understand that you cannot have Holy Communion with me  if you don't have communion with your brothers and sisters in your own  family and parish?     Stop thinking of me as some kind of spiritual being in the skies. I am one with these people and you cannot have me without them.     On the last day, I won't ask you how many times you went to Mass - that is not your holiness. I will ask how your own family and neighbors fared, how your spouse and children grew in love and faith.     How did they live their Mass?     Please. Open your eyes and ears. Stop, look and listen, and make time for me by making time for them.

Poetic Reflection:

This is a beautiful reflection on the power of the Eucharist and the power of the Eucharistic community:

"Gather the People"

What return can we make
for all the Lord has done in our lives?
We bring bread, wine, our clay dishes
and our clay feet
to this altar
and we pray that we may here
make a beginning—
that somehow in our days
we can begin to see the promises
the Lord has made us.

The promises do not always
glow with obvious light, or
overwhelm us by their obvious truth.
No matter what anyone says,
it is difficult to understand an invisible God
and belief is not always
the easy way out.

So we gather the people
and we tell the story again
and we break the bread
and in the memory of the one
who saves us,
we eat and drink
and we pray and we believe.

We gather, we pray, we eat.
These things are for human beings.
God has no need of them.
Yet he himself gathered the people,
prayed, broke bread
and gave it to his friends.

And so the invisible God became
visible
and lives with us.

—Ed Ingebretzen, S.J., from Psalms of the Still Country

Closing Prayer

Lord, we live two lives: flesh and spirit. Both are deeply intertwined as is the gift of your body and blood. Help us, through faith in your love and your legacy, to balance the earthly and the eternal as we journey toward you. Give us nourishment for our daily journey and keep us ever close to you, the Bread of Life.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 11, 2024

Jesus was the unexpected messenger of good news; He WAS the good news!

John 6:41–51

The Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

“I am the bread of life.

“Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Music Meditations

• “Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord” (Tony Eiras)
• “El Pan de la Vida” (by Eleazar Cortés) [YouTube}
• Panis Angelicus (by Franck; sung by Luciano Pavarotti and Sting) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

Lord, how easy it is to put our hopes in things of this world. You promise us something far more satisfying, far more lasting… Help us to treat transitory things as just that, and help us to hope in that which cannot perish: your goodness and your love.

Companions for the Journey

Homily from Fr. Brendan McGuire 2012:

In today’s gospel, we continue to read from this long passage in John’s Gospel called “The Discourse of the Bread of Life.”
It is one of the largest discourses in John’s Gospel. And we are reading it for several weeks during the summer.

The Evangelist John has multiple layers in which he always writes: There is a meaning and then double meaning;
where there is often a meaning underneath; there is irony and double irony that goes on. Quite frankly, it is a fun gospel to
read because one almost has to decrypt what he is saying.

In today’s gospel reading for example, we have to take note of the triple denial that the would-be disciples or the hearers of Jesus are going through. It is important to break it open just a bit because it is the rich meaning for this gospel today.

The first denial is that the hearers of Jesus are disbelieving or denying that God would speak to them;
they had the Torah;
they had the Prophets
but they did not believe that God would speak to them; that they were not that special; number one.

The second denial is they did not believe that God had anything new to say to them. There was no freshness.
In other words, what was said in the Torah and what was said by the Prophets was it.
That was the message. There was nothing new to be added.
That is the second denial.

The third denial, which is emphasized in today’s gospel, is that if God was to talk to us;
and if he was going to give us something new, it most certainly would not be in the person of Jesus Christ.
And why? Because we know him.
He is too ordinary.
He is from Nazareth.
He is the Son of the carpenter.
We know his mother and his father!
How could it be from him?
How could he “Come down from heaven?”

This is where it starts to really be fun to watch them; fun in the sense that we can see ourselves in this.
If we are really honest, we too have that triple denial. I mean we often do not believe that God would speak to us.
Why would he speak to me? I am just a regular parishioner.
I am married.
I’ve got kids.
Or I am a priest or a child or just ordinary.
God isn’t going to speak to me!

And if God does speak to me, he doesn’t have anything new to say to me; why would God say something new to me?
Don’t we have the scriptures?

We do not even believe that.
As Catholics, we believe that yes the scripture is a preeminent place but we believe God is always talking to us
to every single one of us.
And here is the most important part:
Who is he speaking to us through?
Is Jesus going to speak directly to us?
The answer is yes.
And how does he come to us? He comes to us in the most ordinary voices of those around us.
Just like Jesus came in the most ordinary voice at that time.

Who is that ordinary voice when God is speaking to us? It might be just a stranger who says something kind to us;
or maybe something challenging to us that we have not heard. Or maybe it is from a familiar voice; maybe our spouse, who we often discount as not having anything relevant to say in our lives, right?
Or maybe it is a child and we might think; “What would a child ever know?”
Or maybe it is a parent or a relative or a close friend.
You see God is constantly breaking open and speaking to us through those around us
and he has something fresh to say to us every single day.
If we have ears to listen, we will hear.
If we have faith to believe, we will see how he is operating.

One of the problems we have, and I do not think it is our generation only, but particularly our generation is that
we believe that when God created us, it is a past-tense event. In other words, God created us and he’s done.
You see, that is not Catholic theology at all.
Catholic theology is that yes, God created us in his image
but he is creating us still now. And that creation process is where we come in
because we become co-creators with God primarily of ourselves and then of the world. But we have to cooperate with that.

In the Eastern Church, they have a term for this; it is called the divinization process or a theosis, which means that we become more like God every day that we live. Some cooperate in the opposite way and become less like God.
But we have to cooperate with God’s work in our life to become more like God and
then we become more Christ-like in our daily life.

This is what the letter to the Ephesians was talking about in today’s second reading written in Paul’s name. They are saying “Be very clear; here is how we know we are part of this divinization process and here is how we know we are not.”
It says, if we are part of malice, deceit, divisiveness, we are not from the Holy Spirit.
We are not participating in God’s way in the world. Now think of what we are experiencing in our world today
and all the division; and all the words that divide us; the malice, and deceit that is happening. We have to say
there is a lot of nonparticipation in the divinization process. But then the letter says “If you want to know if you are part of God’s process of purification, of goodness then you will be kind and compassionate and good towards others, forgiving, forgiving towards others as God is forgiving towards you. Be imitators of God.” Wow! This shouldn’t be a surprise but it is for us.
Our role as Christians is allowing God to continue the creation process within us with the Bread of Life we partake in;
that we become more like God as each day goes on. Now I do not know about you but one of the hardest parts about getting older is we think “What’s the point, I’ve done the best I can. I am finishing here.”
No.
The way God works is that we are like an unfinished art work until the last day. If you have ever watched artists at work,
sometimes the final touches to a piece of artwork are the most brilliant of all because they are the ones that add the color and the depth; or that last little bit of sculpture that removes this hard edge. And suddenly, you go “It pops! Oh my gosh that is beautiful!”

That is what you and I are.
We are unfinished art work and until the last stroke; and until the last sort of chip off the block; and until the last smoothing out,
the Lord is not done with us. And we want to co-create with him the beauty and the art that he is creating until our very last breath. Sometimes the last strokes are the most important ones.

So today, as we come to the table to receive the Bread of Life once more, know what we are doing. We are participating in this divinization process that we are becoming more like Christ and our role is to cooperate with it;
it is to be kind;
it is to be gentle;
it is to be compassionate;
and to be forgiving and loving towards all.
That is our process.
That is the exciting process, which stays true until the last breath of our life.
We are still being created by God, a work of art.
Today, we receive the Bread of Life because he is the Bread of Life and he continues his work of art within us.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

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

• Does it matter to me what the source of a message about life is?
  If I like or admire a person, am I more likely to hear that person’s message?
• When we think we know everything there is to know about someone and his/her origins, we can be closed to something he/she might say. Is it harder to hear an important and maybe difficult message from someone who was “one of us” and now is seen in a different light?
  Has my sense of awe ever been blunted by familiarity?
• Has prejudice ever gotten in the way of my true listening and responding?
  Have I ever resisted hearing a message of truth because of who delivered it?
• Those that followed Jesus did not really know what he was all about, and were very confused about what was happening in their lives; how easy is it to criticize the crowds that followed Jesus for doing the same thing that I have sometimes done?
  Have I ever felt lost and confused and asked for a sign from God about what to do next?
• How difficult is it to hear things I do not want to hear, or things that are hard for me to understand?
  What growth am I missing out on if I simply dismiss such messages?
• Has there been a time when someone’s advice or prophetic words have come back to haunt me?
• Do I ever sort of require that Jesus prove who He is by doing something magical for me or another?
• Do we really believe that God understands the real human hungers and needs which we have and does not consider them trivial?
  Is it hard to believe that God has not left us lost and hungering, but is there to nourish us when we need it?
  Do we trust that God knows our deepest needs and will not let us down?
• What part of life feels strained and testing these days?
  How is God feeding your hunger and fatigue these days?
• How is Jesus the Bread of Life for us? Is it surprising that people did not, and probably still do not understand the meaning of this phrase?
  What does it mean to eat the Bread of Life and live forever?
• Do I ever thank Jesus for the gift of Himself in our Eucharist?
• Have I ever failed to realize that it is God, not others or my own efforts, that has been the source of bountiful things in my life?
• What do I think it means that I am drawn to Jesus though the Father?
  Do I see God the Father as somehow not connected to Jesus?
• Do I complain to God a lot, expecting God to mend my life?
• What are my hungers? Where have I gone to satisfy them and where have those choices led me?
• Have I ever been the “Bread of Life” for anyone else?
• Have I ever connected the Sunday Eucharist to the events in this passage from John?
  How does it sustain me throughout the week?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

“I am the Bread of Life”.

In the gospel of John we hear the words of a Jewish mystic called Jesus. Sometimes, because of his mystical and poetic imagery, it is difficult to discover the real meaning of what He is saying. The crowds also had a difficult time as well, in trying to understand what He was saying. Because we have heard this passage over and over, we tend to think of this as ordinary language, and we never try to unpack what it actually might mean for us. But what, exactly, does it mean to you when Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life? What exactly, is Bread of Life a metaphor for? What things in your life have assumed the importance of “Bread of Life”? Where does the bread of the Eucharist fit in?

Did you notice that Jesus started with the words “I AM”? this is the first of several sayings in the gospel that use that phrase. Now think back to the term YHWH—I Am Who Am, as it refers to God in the Jewish scriptures. In this gospel of John we are made aware of the close identity between YHWH and Jesus himself. Are you taken aback by ths claim of Jesus? Are you more comfortable dwelling on the human Jesus or the divine Jesus? How hard is it to do both? When we are tempted to make Jesus something other than who He is (a provider of necessities or favors, a teacher who tells us what we want to hear, for example—as opposed to a true and sacrificial gift for the life of the world) we might be missing His message. Can I follow Jesus for who He is rather than who I want Him to be?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Read the following excerpts from Psalm 34, then write your own psalm, addressing it to Jesus (I will bless you Lord at all times). Add any other phrases or words that come from your heart:

2 I will bless the LORD at all times; praise of him is always in my mouth.
3 In the LORD my soul shall make its boast; the humble shall hear and be glad.
4 Glorify the LORD with me; together let us praise his name.
5 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; from all my terrors he set me free.
6 Look towards him and be radiant; let your faces not be abashed.
7 This lowly one called; the LORD heard, and rescued him from all his distress.
8 The angel of the LORD is encamped around those who fear him, to rescue them.
9 Taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed the man who seeks refuge in him.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Reread this passage from Father Brendan’s homily and examine your life to see where, in at least one small way this week, you can become more Christ-like:

So today, as we come to the table to receive the Bread of Life once more, know what we are doing. We are participating in this divinization process that we are becoming more like Christ and our role is to cooperate with it;
it is to be kind;
it is to be gentle;
it is to be compassionate;
and to be forgiving and loving towards all.
That is our process.
That is the exciting process, which stays true until the last breath of our life.
We are still being created by God, a work of art.
Today, we receive the Bread of Life because he is the Bread of Life and he continues his work of art within us.

Poetic Reflection:

In this poem, Mary Oliver captures the connection between Jesus as the Bread of Life, and the Jesus we experience in the Eucharist:

“The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist”

Something has happened
To the bread
And the wine.

They have been blessed.
What now?
The body leans forward

To receive the gift
From the priest’s hand,
Then the chalice.

They are something else now
From what they were
Before this began.

I want
To see Jesus,
Maybe in the clouds

Or on the shore,
Just walking,
Beautiful man

And clearly
Someone else
Besides.

On the hard days
I ask myself
If I ever will.

Also there are times
My body whispers to me
That I have.

—Mary Oliver, from Thirst

Closing Prayer

When I am drawn to something good, Lord, it is you who is drawing me. Open my heart and mind, open my very soul to the beauties of the Eucharist as not just a sign, but as the reality of your ongoing love and presence in my life.

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.