16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

My dear parishioners,

God is Good!!!  All the time!!!  And all the time!!!  God is Good!!!

God sent Jeremiah to preach the word and thus build up the kingdom of David. But the prophet could get no hearing from king or people. As a result, the spiritual condition of Judah so declined that God made this startling announcement, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my heart would not turn toward this people” (Jer 15:1). In this reading, however, God’s seizes the initiative to restore the kingdom to its former glory.

Today’s Gospel passage actually sets the stage for Mark’s version of the feeding of the 5,000. That miraculous feeding will be the subject for next Sunday’s Gospel, but the liturgy will use John’s version and not Mark’s. The best approach for today is to focus on what we can learn about Jesus, his disciples, and the people to whom they are ministering.

The ministry is a success. Mark here refers to the Twelve as apostles but that is not meant in the technical commissioned sense that it will after Pentecost. The disciples have been sent by Jesus to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Their ministry has been a success and they appear excited to tell Jesus all about it. In Mark’s Gospel the Galilean ministry of Jesus begins on a very positive note, but as it continues on serious challenges will emerge.

Retreat to a deserted place. Notice that Jesus’ first concern here is with the well-being of the disciples and not the success of the mission. The disciples have been fully engaged with their teaching and healing ministry to such a degree that they have not even had time to eat. Jesus encourages them to set all their activity aside for a while and retreat to a deserted place and get some rest. Jesus is well aware that the disciples do not have unlimited energy. Even though they have been personally called by Jesus they still must function within the confines of human limitation. However, getting away from the people proves to be a difficult task. They are hungry for what the disciples have been giving them, and they want more.

Like sheep without a shepherd. When Jesus and the disciples arrive at their destination there is already a vast crowd waiting for them. Jesus responds to the crowd with compassion and pity. They appear to have no destination, no mission, no sense of purpose. They are like sheep without a shepherd (recall Ezekiel 34). It is Jesus the Good Shepherd who now responds to this vast crowd by teaching them many things. We are not told the content of this teaching, but we can assume it was a fuller version of his opening statement of Mark 1:15. “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has drawn near, repent and believe in the good news.” Rest, pity, and the Good Shepherd form the major emphases of this Gospel passage.

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius