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
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.