Mark 6:30-34 NRSVue
30The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
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Some thoughts on this scripture
Reflection
There is a phrase to ponder: /He had compassion on the crowd because they
were like sheep without a shepherd. / Jesus, son of the eternal father, sees
the crowd as his sisters and brothers. His gaze spans the millennia of
humankind, sees our need for direction, for compassion, and for seeking some
meaning in existence.
Reflection
To his disciples, exhausted by all the unscripted coming and going of the
crowds, Jesus said /Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a
while. / This is the origin of the Christian practice of making a retreat: a
lonely place, where we can drop our public mask, reflect on our life, and
rest. I do it in a small way whenever I beam in on /Sacred Space/ and devote
some time to just God and me.
Reflection
This is a gospel story for people busy with caring for others. Jesus' desire
for peace and quiet was disturbed by the crowds who needed him. This is an
image of many parents and people in helping professions. We need rest and
time to recharge the energy and love of the heart; but at times the needs of
others will take over. Prayer can unite both - the prayer of our action and
the prayer of love.
Reflection
Prayer is a time of answering the invitation in the gospel ‘Come away to a
deserted place'. The place of our mind can be very crowded with the cares and
concerns of life. We need time to give these over to God in prayer and then
time just to be still. Stillness is of the essence of prayer. But whether we
are still or busy in the mind, the essence of prayer is also to share all we
are with Jesus; and to go from prayer ready to work with him in our world.
Reflection
It is good, indeed essential, to go apart to a 'deserted' place from time to
time to rest and feed one's heart by listening for the voice of God. The
human heart is restless. "Is this all there is?" Some assuage this human
hunger by grasping for more and more money, fame, sex, power. To be fully
human is to seek. We seek not just for food, facts or things, but for
meaning. We want a purpose, a motive to go on. Jesus provides us with such a
purpose.
Reflection
Even as Lent approaches, the voice of Jesus calls us aside.