Four Teachings on Personal Prayer – A Homily for the 16th Sunday of the Year

Msgr. Charles Pope • July 21, 2018 •

The Gospel this Sunday speaks to us of the priority of personal prayer. In last week’s Gospel, Jesus sent the apostles out two by two to proclaim the Kingdom. Now they return, eager to report their progress and the graces they encountered.

As Jesus listens, He urges them (perhaps because they are so overjoyed) to come away and rest awhile, for they have labored long. In so doing, Jesus also teaches us about prayer. Let’s consider four teachings on prayer that are evident in today’s Gospel.

I. The Practice of Praise-Filled Prayer – As the text opens, the apostles are with Jesus, joyfully recounting all they experienced on their missionary journey. In a similar text in Luke (10:17), the apostles return rejoicing, saying that even demons are subject to them (through Jesus’ name). Thus, their first instinct is joyful gratitude before the Lord.

Is your prayer filled with praise and thanksgiving? Are you grateful to God for all He has done? Do you tell God what is happening in your life and give Him thanks for all He has enabled you to do?

Too many people think of prayer only in relation to petition, but praise is also an essential component. When Jesus began His instruction on prayer, He said, When you pray, say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name’ (Mat 6:9). In other words, “Father, your name is holy. You are a great God, a wonderful God. You can do all things and I praise you! Thank you, Father; your name is holy, and you are holy.”

Praise the Lord. Thank Him for what He is doing and tell Him everything that you are experiencing. Scripture says that we were made for the praise of his glory (Eph. 1:16). So, praise the Lord in your prayer. How? Take a psalm of praise. Pray or sing the Gloria from Mass. Sing or recite a hymn. No matter how you do it, praise Him!

II. The Peace of Personal Prayer – Jesus invites the apostles to come away by themselves to a quiet place and rest for a while. Most people don’t think of their personal prayer as a privileged invitation from the Lord, nor do they think of it as rest.

Yet, consider that the Lord invites us to come aside and spend personal and private time with Him. Most people would relish personal attention from a famous person. Why not from the Lord? An old song says, “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.”

Note the description of this time as “rest.” Most people think of prayer more as a task than as a time of rest. Yet to pray is to rest, to withdraw from this world for a brief time and enjoy the Lord’s presence. Scripture says, For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved. In quietness and trust is your strength” (Is 30:15).

An old hymn says,

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare,
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Learn to think of prayer as quiet time, as rest with the Lord, when He soothes, strengthens, refreshes, and blesses us.

III. The Primacy of Prioritized Prayer – The text says that people were coming in great numbers seeking the attention of the Lord and the apostles; they could not even get a moment to eat!

There is no doubt that the people had critical needs. They needed to be taught, healed, fed, and cared for in many ways. Yet despite this Jesus said, in effect, “We have to get away from all this for a while.” He directed the apostles to go off in the boat to a deserted place.

Indeed, one of the few places they could “get away” was out on the water. There, the crowds could not follow them, and they could be alone and quiet for a short time.

Jesus made prayer a priority. Scripture says of Him, But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:16). Scripture also speaks of Him rising early to pray (Mark 1:35), praying late into the night (Matt 14:23), praying all night long (Luke 6:12), and praying in the mountains (Matt 14:23) and other deserted places.

Understanding prayer as rest helps us to understand why prayer must be a priority in our lives. If we are going to engage in the work to which God has called us, we need to be replenished and refreshed daily by spending time with Him.

If we were to engage in physical work without ever stopping to rest, we would collapse. The spiritual life has a similar law. Resting with God in prayer fills us with His presence, grace, and strength so that we can be equipped, empowered, and enabled unto the tasks that He has given us.

No one can give or share what he does not have, so if we aren’t praying and experiencing God’s presence, how can we share it? To share grace, we must first receive it. To speak the Word, we must first receive it. To witness to the Lord, we must first know Him.

Jesus often had to hide in order to pray. Sometimes the only quiet place He could find was out on the lake, but He did make time for prayer. He invites the apostles and us to do the same, not only despite the busyness of life, but because of it.

A Brief Story –

A priest friend of mine told me that back in the 1970s he once gave spiritual direction to a religious sister. At that time, it was common for people to say, “My work is my prayer.” When this priest inquired about the good sister’s prayer life she answered, “Oh, I’m too busy to pray, but that’s OK because my work is my prayer; that’s my spirituality.” He replied, “Sister, if you’re not praying, you don’t have a spirituality.” He got her to start praying for one hour a day. Some years later, he ran into her at the airport. By now, she had moved on to become a major superior in her order. “How are you doing, Mother?” he asked. “Oh,” she replied, “I am very busy!” He cringed, but then she added, “I’m so busy these days that I have to spend two hours a day praying!”

Now there’s a smart woman! When we’re being foolish we say, “I’m too busy to pray.” When we’re smart we say, “I’m so busy that I need to pray more.”

Jesus made prayer a priority. Prayer is the rest that strengthens us for the task; it is the refreshment that gives us new vigor and zeal.

IV. The Power of Pious Prayer – The text says that after Jesus spent this time alone with the apostles on the boat, they reached the other shore. Sure enough, the crowd was there waiting for them, but Jesus and the apostles had been refreshed and were now well-rested. Jesus, renewed and refreshed, saw the vast crowd and began to teach them at great length.

Prayer has that effect. In drawing close to God, who is love, we are better equipped to love others. Jesus, though He never lacked love for them, models this renewal for us. The text says that upon seeing the crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them. The Greek word translated as “pity” is σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai), which means “to be moved with compassion.” The word “pity” often carries with it a condescending tone, but what happens here is that Jesus sees them, loves them, and has compassion for their state. The religious leaders in Jerusalem have largely abandoned them, considering them “the great unwashed,” but Jesus loves them and teaches them at great length.

It often takes many years and a lot of prayer to equip our hearts in this way. One of the signs that grace and prayer are having their effect is that our love for others, even for the multitudes, grows deeper, more compassionate, more patient, and more merciful. This takes great prayer and long hours of sitting at the Lord’s feet learning from Him.

Here is the power that prayer bestows: we are more fully equipped for our mission, more zealous, and more loving. The rest afforded by prayer rejuvenates our better nature and helps it to grow.

So, here are four teachings on prayer. Jesus found time to pray; He made it a priority. How about you?

Sunday Gospel Reflections

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: Jeremiah 23:1-6 II: Ephesians 2:13-18

Gospel
Mark 6:30-34

³⁰ The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.
³¹ And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
³² And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
³³ Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them.
³⁴ As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Interesting Details

Between the passage we read last week about Jesus sending the disciples out (Mk 6:7-13) and the passage of this week about the returning disciples, is a passage on the death of John the Baptist. Such "sandwiching" is a device by Mark to say that the disciples would be persecuted.
This passage also sets the stage for the feeding of the five thousand, which we will read from the Gospel of John on the next five Sundays. "To a lonely place" shows that not much food was available, and the feeding was miraculous.
People there eat leisurely and socially. If the disciples stay in town, people would continue to come to them. If the disciples eat in town, other people would come and share. In order that the disciples can eat leisurely and bond among themselves after being apart on mission, Jesus takes them away from other people.
A shepherd nurtures and protects the sheep. Jesus as shepherd contrasts with Herod killing John the Baptist in the preceding passage. Before feeding the people, Jesus provides what is even more important: teaching them. [Hamm]

One Main Point

The disciples of Jesus would be persecuted, but Jesus would lead and feed his people with the help of the disciples.

Reflections

Do I take time to rest and to bond with other disciples of Jesus, and with Jesus himself?
Who is my shepherd, and do I follow the teaching of my shepherd?
Have I experienced persecution? How does Jesus take care of me?

Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 6
30.	And the apostles coming together unto Jesus, related to him all things that they had done and taught.	Et convenientes Apostoli ad Jesum, renuntiaverunt ei omnia quæ egerant, et docuerant.	και συναγονται οι αποστολοι προς τον ιησουν και απηγγειλαν αυτω παντα και οσα εποιησαν και οσα εδιδαξαν
31.	And he said to them: Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going: and they had not so much as time to eat.	Et ait illis : Venite seorsum in desertum locum, et requiescite pusillum. Erant enim qui veniebant et redibant multi : et nec spatium manducandi habebant.	και ειπεν αυτοις δευτε υμεις αυτοι κατ ιδιαν εις ερημον τοπον και αναπαυεσθε ολιγον ησαν γαρ οι ερχομενοι και οι υπαγοντες πολλοι και ουδε φαγειν ευκαιρουν
32.	And going up into a ship, they went into a desert place apart.	Et ascendentes in navim, abierunt in desertum locum seorsum.	και απηλθον εις ερημον τοπον τω πλοιω κατ ιδιαν
33.	And they saw them going away, and many knew: and they ran flocking thither on foot from all the cities, and were there before them.	Et viderunt eos abeuntes, et cognoverunt multi : et pedestres de omnibus civitatibus concurrerunt illuc, et prævenerunt eos.	και ειδον αυτους υπαγοντας και επεγνωσαν αυτον πολλοι και πεζη απο πασων των πολεων συνεδραμον εκει και προηλθον αυτους και συνηλθον προς αυτον
34.	And Jesus going out saw a great multitude: and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.	Et exiens vidit turbam multam Jesus : et misertus est super eos, quia erant sicut oves non habentes pastorem, et cœpit docere multa.	και εξελθων ειδεν ο ιησους πολυν οχλον και εσπλαγχνισθη επ αυτοις οτι ησαν ως προβατα μη εχοντα ποιμενα και ηρξατο διδασκειν αυτους πολλα

30. And the apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
31. And he said to them, Come you yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
32. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
33. And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and out went them, and came together to him.
34. And Jesus, when he came out, saw many people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

GLOSS. The Evangelist, after relating the death of John, gives an account of those things which Christ did with His disciples after the death of John, saying, And the Apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

PSEUDO-JEROME; For they return to the fountain-head whence the streams flow; those who are sent by God, always offer up thanks for those things which they have received.

THEOPHYL. Let us also learn, when we are sent on any mission, not to go far away, and not to overstep the bounds of the office committed, but to go often to him, who sends us, and report all that we have done and taught; for we must not only teach but act.

BEDE; Not only do the Apostles tell the Lord what they themselves had done and taught, but also his own and John's disciples together tell him what John had suffered, during the time that they were occupied in teaching, as Matthew relates. It goes on: And he said to them, Come you yourselves apart, &c.

AUG. This is said to have taken place, after the passion of John, therefore what is first related took place last, for it was by these events that Herod was moved to say, This is John the Baptist, whom I beheaded.

THEOPHYL. Again, He goes to a desert place from His humility. But Christ makes His disciples rest, that men who are set over others may hear, that they who labor in any work or in the word deserve rest, and ought not to labor continually.

BEDE; How arose the necessity for giving rest to His disciples, He shows, when He adds, For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat; we may then see how great was the happiness of that time, both from the toil of the teachers, and from the diligence of the learners. It goes on, And embarking into a ship, they departed into a desert place privately. The disciples did not enter into the ship alone, but taking up the Lord with them, they went to a desert place, as Matthew shows. Here He tries the faith of the multitude, and by seeking a desert place. He would see whether they care to follow Him. And they follow Him, and that not on horseback, nor in carriages, but laboriously coming on foot, they show how great is their anxiety for their salvation.

There follows, And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and out went them. In saying that they out went them on foot, it is proved that the disciples with the Lord did not reach the other bank of the sea, or of the Jordan, but they went to the nearest places of the same country, where the people of those parts could come to them on foot.

THEOPHYL. So do you not wait for Christ till He Himself call you, but outrun Him, and come before Him. There follows, And Jesus when he came out saw much people, and was moved with compassion towards them, because they were as sheep having no shepherd. The Pharisees being ravenous wolves did not feed the sheep, but devoured them; for which reason they gather themselves to Christ, the trite Shepherd, who gave them spiritual food, that is, the word of God. Wherefore it goes on, And he began to teach them many things. For seeing that those who followed Him on account of His miracles were tired from the length of the way, He pitied them, and wished to satisfy their wish by teaching them.

BEDE; Matthew says that he healed their sick, for the real way of pitying the poor is to open to them the way of truth by teaching them, and to take away their bodily pains.

PSEUDO-JEROME; Mystically, however, the Lord took apart those whom He chose, that though living amongst evil men, they might not apply their minds to evil things, as Lot in Sodom, Job in the land of Uz, and Obadiah in the house of Ahab.

BEDE; Leaving also Judea, the holy preachers, in the desert of the Church, overwhelmed by the burden of their tribulations amongst the Jews, obtained rest by the imparting of the grace of faith to the Gentiles.

PSEUDO-JEROME; Little indeed is the rest of the saints here on earth, long is their labor, but afterwards, they are bidden to rest from their labors. But as in the ark of Noah, the animals that were within were sent forth, and they that were without rushed in, so is it in the Church, Judas went, the thief came to Christ. But as long as men go back from the faith, the Church can have no refuge from grief; for Rachel weeping for her children would not be comforted. Moreover, this world is not the happiest, in which the new wine is drank, when the new song will be sung by men made anew, when this mortal shall have put in immortality.

BEDE; But when Christ goes to the deserts of the Gentiles, many bands of the faithful leaving the walls of their cities, that is their old manner of living, follow Him.

Catena Aurea Mark 6

Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

St. Mary Magdelene

Feast Day: July 22
Born/Died: (around the time of Jesus)

Mary Magdalene was from Magdala near the Sea of Galilee. She was very beautiful and very proud and was well-known as a sinner when she first met Jesus. But after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life and made up her mind to live a good life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at his feet. Then, with her long, beautiful hair, she wiped his feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume.

Some people were surprised that Jesus let such a sinner touch him. Our Lord who could see into Mary's heart said, "Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much." Then to Mary he said kindly, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

From then on, with the other holy women, Mary humbly served Jesus and his apostles. When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of his cross. She stayed with the Blessed Mother and St. John, unafraid for herself. All she could think about was that Jesus was suffering. No wonder Jesus said of her: "She has loved much."

After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. She was shocked when she saw that the tomb was empty. Not finding the sacred body, she stood outside the tomb and began to weep. Suddenly she saw someone she thought was the gardener. She asked him if he knew where the body of her beloved Master had been taken.

Touched by her deep sorrow, the man spoke in a voice filled with love that she knew so well: "Mary!" It was Jesus, standing right there in front of her. He was risen from the dead. And he had chosen to reveal himself first to her. The Gospels tell us that Mary was sent by Jesus himself to announce the Good News of the resurrection to Peter and the apostles.

Reflection: St. Mary Magdalene was a sinner, yet Jesus forgave her. He could see that she loved much.

Catholic Culture

Ordinary Time: July 22nd

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

MASS READINGS

July 22, 2018 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Show favor, O Lord, to your servants and mercifully increase the gifts of your grace, that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity, they may be ever watchful in keeping your commands. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Old Calendar: Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things (Mk 6:32-34).

Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene which is superseded by the Sunday Liturgy.

Click here for commentary on the readings in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 23:1-6. In these seven verses, Jeremiah utters dire threats against the shepherds, the leaders of the people of Judah. Their neglect of the flock given into their care and their neglect of God was bringing exile on their people. God would avenge his people bring back the "remnant" of his flock and set trustworthy shepherds over them.

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 2:13-18. St. Paul reminds his Ephesian converts that Christ has brought unity of brotherhood to Jews and Gentiles.

The Gospel is from St. Mark 6:30-34. In these few verses St. Mark very strongly brings out the compassion, the human understanding of Jesus for man. He first planned to give his Apostles a well-earned rest. They had evidently worked hard while out on their mission and a few days rest would restore their lost energy. He himself, too, must have been hard pressed, preaching and dealing with the crowds. In the absence of the Apostles he had no one to help him—he too needed a rest. He, therefore, planned that he and they should go to a quiet corner of the Sea of Galilee where there was no village and where, therefore, they would not be disturbed.

The desire of the crowds, however, to see him and to hear him speak upset these plans. The people got to the quiet spot first. There they were waiting when the boat pulled to shore. He could have sent them away, but again his human compassion took over. Seeing these simple people of Galilee so anxious to hear about God and his mercy, he let them stay and began to preach the good news of forgiveness and hope to them. For the most part they were simple, unlettered villagers, shepherds and fishermen. They knew a little about the Law of Moses but only a little. There was no one but the local rabbi to teach them and the local rabbis were not very educated at the time. The doctors of the law, the great theologians were all in Jerusalem where they got the respect and the financial reward which they felt they merited. Hence the people of the country were more or less forgotten and neglected. They were, as our Lord described them, "like sheep without a shepherd," wandering about half-lost.

They were certainly fortunate, however, in finding the true shepherd who would lead them to the eternal pastures. Not only would he now sacrifice his rest to come to their aid but he would, later on, lay down his life for them and for all of us. We, like those poor people of Galilee, have so much to be grateful for. The compassionate Christ has had pity on us too, and has brought us into his fold. He knows all our infirmities and all our human weaknesses, and he is ever-ready to have pity on us and pardon us. Those people of Galilee were not saints, they were ordinary, run-of-the mill, not over religious people. They cheated one another; they were often uncharitable to one another; they were not always chaste and pure; they prayed very little and perhaps only when they wanted some material benefit. Yet our Lord had compassion on them.

This should give us great confidence, great encouragement. Christ has not changed: he is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has the same compassion for us that he had for those Galileans; we too are often like sheep without a shepherd wandering half-lost through life. He is ever calling us to come to himself so that he will lead us to safe pastures. If only we would listen to his merciful call! Today's Gospel is one such call — it goes out to every member of this congregation who has been lax in his or her religious life up to now. Christ wants us back on the high-road to heaven. All we have to do is to break with the past, with the earthly things that kept us from God. We can set out as freemen to follow Christ. He has left to his Church the holy sacrament of penance in which he guarantees us complete and entire remission of all past sins if we confess them with true sorrow. Let us not think that our sins are too big to be forgiven, that Christ could not have compassion on us because of our dreadful past. We can remember those Galileans; many of them were sinners as we are and he had compassion on them. He came to call sinners, he tells us. Let us answer his call today—tomorrow might be too late.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Ephesians 2:13-18

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

He . . . broke down the dividing wall of enmity. (Ephesians 2:14)

In almost poetic language, St. Paul invites the Ephesians to marvel at the unity they are experiencing. Many of them were Gentiles, people who looked down on the Jews almost as much as the Jews looked down on them. And yet here they were worshipping Jesus—alongside of Jewish brothers and sisters! Through Christ, the centuries-old wall dividing them had been broken down, leaving only a bond of love.

But this wasn’t the only time when Jesus brought Jews and Gentiles together. Probably the most important one happened about thirty years earlier, on the first Good Friday. That’s when “Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,” overcame their differences . . . so that they could put Jesus to death (Acts 4:27). Of course, not everyone was in on the plot, but many were united in their hatred of Jesus.

Isn’t it amazing how Jesus can take something horrible and make it a source of blessing? The devil had created a false and feeble unity in order to eliminate Jesus, but his plan backfired. This mock unity brought about the true unity that the Ephesians—and Christians everywhere else—were now enjoying. Where once there was Gentile versus Jew, slave versus free, and woman versus man, now there were only brothers and sisters witnessing to the Spirit’s power to heal ancient divisions.

If Jesus can overcome centuries of division between Jews and Gentiles, surely he can heal the divisions in our lives. It may not happen overnight or in the way we expect, but it can happen—especially if we work toward it ourselves. So take one relationship today, whether you need to offer forgiveness, let go of resentment, or ask for forgiveness, and see what you can do to break down the walls. It won’t happen overnight—just as it took time for the early Church. But if you persevere, it will happen.

“Come, Lord, and heal every division and wounded relationship.”

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 23:1-6
Mark 6:30-34

Daily Gospel Commentary

Saint Bede the Venerable (c.673-735)
monk, Doctor of the Church
Commentary on Saint Mark’s gospel, 2 ; CCL 120, 510 (trans. © Friends of Henry Ashworth)

“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile”

“The apostles returned to Jesus and reported to him everything they had done and taught.” The apostles were not alone… there were other of Jesus’s disciple and disciples of John the Baptist also… Jesus said to them: “Come away to some place where you can be alone by yourselves and rest awhile.” To enable us to understand how necessary it was to give the disciples some rest, the evangelist continued: “For many were coming and going and they had no time even to eat.” The great happiness of those days can be seen from the hard work of those who taught and the enthusiasm of those who learned.

If only in our time a concourse of faithful listeners would again press round the ministers of the word, not allowing them time to attend to their physical needs!… For those whom the word of faith and the saving ministry is demanded in season and out of season have an incentive to meditate upon heavenly things so as not to contradict what they teach by what they do.

“So they got into the boat and went away by themselves to a deserted spot”… The people followed them. They showed how concerned they were for their salvation by the effort they made in going along the deserted road, not on donkeys or in carts of various kinds, but on foot. In return Jesus welcomed those weary, ignorant, sick, and hungry people, instructing, healing and feeding them as a kindly savior and physician, and so letting them know how pleased he is by believers’ devotion to him.

A Christian Pilgrim

HE LEADS ME BESIDE STILL WATERS; HE RESTORES MY SOUL

(A biblical refection on THE 16th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME [YEAR B] – 22 July 2018)

Gospel Reading: Mark 6:30-34

First Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalms: Psalm 23:1-6; Second Reading: Ephesians 2:13-18

The Scripture Text

The apostles returned to Jesus, and told Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. As He landed He saw a great throng, and He has compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:30-34 RSV)

“When the people were like sheep without a shepherd Jesus took pity on them. Divine compassion is the heartbeat of the ministry of Jesus.”

This is the only place in his writing where Mark uses the word apostles. Apostle means someone who is sent on a mission. But the odd thing is that this mention of the action word, apostle, does not lead up to more activity but to the exact opposite … to withdraw or retreat from the pressure of being too busy.

In last Sunday’s Gospel reading Jesus sent out the Twelve with authority over unclean spirits. They preached repentance, cast out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil and cured them. Back they come, over the moon with excitement, thrilled at the success of all that they had done and taught. They could not wait for the next mission. How surprised they must have been when Jesus, instead of sending them out again, actually invited them to retreat. It had become so busy that they scarcely had time to eat.

To retreat means to withdraw, to pull back from what one is doing. The Lord was showing them that the powerhouse of apostolate is divine energy. The authority they had over spirits and illness was not of human origin. All the human effort in the world is of no avail in apostolate unless it is powered from within by the divine energy of grace. “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

There are 3 (three) phases in the Lord’s invitation … to come apart … to an alone-place … and to rest a while.

Busy people must recognize that if they never voluntarily come apart then they will soon involuntarily fall apart or be torn apart. Anybody who is sent on the Lord’s work has to find some space in each day to come apart. And on a regular basis there should be a more thorough retreat for some days. It is virtually impossible to withdraw sufficiently in one’s familiar surroundings. The mind has to be given every chance to clear out all traces of preoccupation. When going on retreat, every mile travelled is a mile from our daily routine and a mile towards a new freedom for hearing the Lord’s voice.

Seeking out an alone-place is not an escape from reality. For the heart of reality is the reality of the heart, that is, the innermost center of our being where God dwells as the powerhouse of apostolic energy. Those who are busy with the work of the Lord must return to the center and be alone with the Lord of the work.

A retreat involves discerning where and how God has been operative in all that we have said and done. In the alone-place we encounter the Great Alone. We come to experience the difference between loneliness and solitude. Loneliness is the empty way of being alone: it is an emptiness that can tear us apart. Solitude, on the other hand, is a way of fullness when we realize that our emptiness creates the necessary space for God. We come to reflect on God’s mission through our lives. We see if we have selfishly held back from the divine challenge whether we have been serving our own ways rather that the calls of obedience: whether God’s glory or our own success is our ambition.

Having come apart to be alone with God, the Lord’s invitation is to rest a while and restore our energy. Today’s responsorial psalm is the beloved shepherd psalm which offers some very appealing images of how God cares for us: “He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:2b-3a RSV).

Sheep need water to drink just once in the day. Apparently they have great difficulty in drinking from swiftly flowing water. The shepherd must build a dam of stones across the mountain stream of find a pool of still water.

The water is an image of our apostolic activity. God is present everywhere, but when the pace is hectic we find it difficult to drink of His presence in prayer. Like the sheep, we need to find the pool of still time. It is here that our drooping spirits are revived and true apostolic energy is restored.

It is significant, then, that the only time that Mark mentions the name apostles is not in the context of further activity, but in connection with retreating from busy-ness. The powerhouse of true apostolate is divine energy. When we come apart to spend time with God we present our emptiness of mind, heart and hand, praying that God’s Spirit will be our fullness. “He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul.”

(Adapted from Fr. Silvester O’Flynn OFMCap., The Good News of Mark’s Year, Dublin, Ireland: THE COLUMBIA PRESS in association with CATHEDRAL BOOKS, First Edition: 1990 – reprinting: 1993, pages 203-205.)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You told Your disciples to go apart to a lonely place to rest. You tell us that, too. There are times when we must isolate ourselves from our business, our busy-ness, noise, all disturbances. There are times when we need a lonely place, where You can heal us and renew us. We ask You to give us the grace to respond to that call from You. Give us the courage and humility to admit that we need to rest now and then, to pause and re-collect ourselves. We thank You for this invitation and for the grace to accept it. Amen.

When Our Plans Are Interrupted

Pastor’s Column

16^th Sunday Ordinary Time

July 22, 2018

What do you do when your plans are interrupted or changed suddenly in some unforeseen way? This is the situation that Christ and the apostles find themselves in this Sunday (Mark 6:30-34). Their ministry has been so successful that Christ suggests they all need to get away by themselves for a while and recharge their batteries. Don’t we all feel the same way sometimes? So, they all got into a boat to escape from everyone; but soon there’s a problem: “Everyone” was waiting for them when they arrived at their supposed secluded getaway spot.

The challenge for the disciples, and for us, is in being able to recognize and accept God’s will for us in the present moment, the way things are right now. God’s will is not to be found just in the ideal circumstances in our minds, or when we get done with our own agenda or just on our “to do” list. It is not found only after our health returns or when we get “caught up.” When unforeseen events happen, we can find God’s will for us by focusing on what God wishes for us to do at the present moment, that is, right now, dealing with life just as it has been given to us. Here, and only here, will we find the will of God.

It is of crucial importance in the spiritual life that we try to keep in mind the importance of the present moment. While it is true that the past and the future are all present to God and he dwells equally in all of these places, we humans actually live only in the present moment. We can interact with God only in the now, the place where eternity impinges on time.

I have been enormously helped over the years by a little book called Abandonment to Divine Providence by the Rev. Jean Pierre de Caussade. It contains profound, yet ultimately simple Christian wisdom, that the present moment is all we actually have in which to know God, to love God, and to serve God. In every moment of our lives, God is speaking to us and summoning us to closer harmony with himself.

In practical terms, this means that, no matter what the task at hand may be, the Lord can be found within it, provided we do our task well and have patience. This applies equally to an interrupted vacation or a stopped up toilet. The key to the whole thing is, what is God’s will for me now? God had a gift for the disciples in their ever-changing circumstances, and he has one for us, too: we will find it in the present moment, that now where God waits each day to meet us and expresses his will for our lives.

Father Gary

Reflections from Scott Hahn

One Flock: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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The Good Shepherd, Catacomb of Priscilla, 3rd-4th c.

Readings:
Jeremiah 23:1–16
Psalms 23:1–6
Ephesians 2:13–18
Mark 6:30–34

As the Twelve return from their first missionary journey in today’s Gospel, our readings continue to reflect on the authority and mission of the Church.

Jeremiah says in the First Reading that Israel’s leaders, through godlessness and fanciful teachings, had misled and scattered God’s people. He promises God will send a shepherd, a king and son of David, to gather the lost sheep and appoint for them new shepherds (see Ezekiel 34:23).

The crowd gathering on the green grass (see Mark 6:39) in today’s Gospel is the start of the remnant that Jeremiah promised would be brought back to the meadow of Israel. The people seem to sense that Jesus is the Lord, the good shepherd (see John 10:11), the king they’ve been waiting for (see Hosea 3:1–5).

Jesus is moved to pity, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd. This phrase was used by Moses to describe Israel’s need for a shepherd to succeed him (see Numbers 27:17). And as Moses appointed Joshua, Jesus appointed the Twelve to continue shepherding His people on earth.

Jesus had said there were other sheep who did not belong to Israel’s fold, but would hear His voice and be joined to the one flock of the one shepherd (see John 10:16). In God’s plan, the Church is to seek out first the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and then to bring all nations into the fold (see Acts 13:36; Romans 1:16).

Paul, too, in today’s Epistle, sees the Church as a new creation, in which those nations who were once far off from God are joined as “one new person” with the children of Israel.

As we sing in today’s Psalm, through the Church, the Lord, our good shepherd, still leads people to the verdant pastures of the kingdom, to the restful waters of baptism; He still anoints with the oil of confirmation, and spreads the Eucharistic table before all people, filling their cups to overflowing.

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July 22, 2018

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Jer 23:1-6

Responsorial Psalm Ps 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

Reading 2 Eph 2:13-18

Alleluia Jn 10:27

Gospel Mk 6:30-34

Four Teachings on Personal Prayer – A Homily for the 16th Sunday of the Year

St. Mary Magdelene

Ordinary Time: July 22nd

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

MASS READINGS

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Meditation: Ephesians 2:13-18

When Our Plans Are Interrupted

One Flock: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time