July 19, 2009 16th Ordinary Sunday of the Year Jer. 23:1-6; Eph. 2:13-18; Mk. 6:30-34 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/071909.shtml                  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     The Gospel recounts the return of the disciples from their missionary journey, and Jesus invites them to come away to a “deserted” place for rest, which ends up being short-lived as crowds stream out and arrive before them.   Jesus said to the disciples, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile." Jesus seems to be calling us to be still and know - to stop doing and stop to refocus, stop to refuel, stop to be still and know. After all, we are not Jesus. But, most importantly, there's no human way that we can be everywhere at the same time meeting all of the needs that will come our way. Need will always be here long after we're gone. And Jesus is a powerful example of a non-anxious presence in needy times. Jesus still invites them and us to be still and know.   Jesus knows what we need … which is a whole lot more than what we think we need at any given moment. We need Jesus to save us from ourselves. We need Jesus to save us from those that would lead us astray like a bunch of lost sheep. We need Jesus to do more for us than what we hope or imagine that He ought to do in any given situation.   Jesus then is moved with pity for them, for they were “like sheep without a shepherd,” and he then teaches them. Like the people of Israel, the crowds are in the desert where they will receive not only miraculous food, but guidance and instruction, just as the Torah was given in the desert of Sinai.   There are so many people searching today, people hungering for instruction, good people who are looking for direction. They may be parents who are sick with grief over the future of a troubled child; a man stripped of his dignity by unemployment; a woman facing a pregnancy alone; elderly people who feel the diminishing surge of life in their bodies; people who are angry and confused because they have lost confidence in leaders, whether political or religious. They are people who are looking for answers and for meaning. They are like sheep without a shepherd. To whom should they turn?   Psalms 23 reminds us that He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Jesus had a way of being intentional about getting away. His pace is thoughtful, unhurried by the anxieties around but yet attentive and present with them.     <<   Previous: 15th Sunday of the year  |   Next: 17th Sunday of the year >>     Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)