Weekly Reflection: Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
Reading References
1st Reading: Jeremiah 231-6
Psalm: Ps 22 R v 2
2nd Reading: Ephesians 2:13-18
Gospel: Mark 6:30-34
Today’s readings are filled with promise – a promise that will be fulfilled if we keep our eyes on Jesus and our hearts open to Jesus. We are promised that Jesus will always shepherd us. We are promised that through the cross peace will be restored.
Our gospel shows the energy present in the disciples as they had gone out and preached what Jesus was teaching them. But Jesus knew this energy needed to be nurtured – he knew that he was the one to nurture them and makes it very clear that they needed time to reflect upon what had happened to them and those around them on this journey of mission. This journey of mission brought them back to Jesus.
But in the midst of all this we see the attraction that this small group of people had mustered. People “hurried” to follow them. There is a sense of desperation present on the part of the people – they do not want to lose this opportunity and they drop everything to get a glimpse of the mystery before them.
Jesus also senses this and even though he had planned to spend time with his disciples he responds with great compassion to the crowd. He sees their desperation – he sees that they are lost – re recognizes they have no one to lead them to what their hearts are longing for.
How do we read all this today?
The disciples believed in Jesus even though they continually failed and didn’t yet understand what was before them. It was their belief that kept bringing them back to Jesus. Where is this belief present in our world today? Our world needs desperately people who believe in Jesus – every Christian person is called to be a disciple of Christ.
Yet we have world leaders that proclaim a belief in Jesus while at the same time they are the ones who continue to crucify love – they are crucifying Jesus over and over again in the name of seeking democracy and peace. We have a world that has over one billion people proclaiming to be believe in Jesus and yet this collective voice is deafeningly silent in the name of love.
Where are the shepherds today?
Even the church leadership while it has pockets of people in leadership that dare to speak out about the atrocities our world currently faces, there are many who remain silent. This silence is a total abdication of the shepherding role our church and political leaders are called to give. It is nothing short of shameful.
But the shamefulness of it cannot end there. Every person who proclaims a belief in Jesus has a responsibility to name evil for what it is and to do all in their lives to act against it. This call to discipleship will leave us at times with an enormous sense of powerlessness and helplessness but none the less we must keep on loving. It is these people who can truly love in their lives that will shepherd us.
It was this loving that was so deeply attractive to those who truly followed Jesus and it is this loving that brings hope to our world today – but it is the responsibility of every person who proclaims a belief in Jesus.
In a world that has become so subjective and dependent on self reliance this call can seem impossible. And of course it is impossible if we do not keep our focus on Jesus. This is why the world needs people who truly believe in Jesus because they will help us see what is truly possible when we do believe - they are our shepherds along with Jesus.
When we become so consumed with ourselves we will almost certainly lose sight of the vision Jesus lived and showed us. When ever we lose the vision we can be assured we are in deep trouble. This lost vision is present in all parts of our world including the church.
We all must reclaim this vision. The longer we sit on our hands and silence our hearts we will continue to spiral out of control – and we will continue to be bewildered by a world that seems to have gone mad.
Let us pray in the coming week that we will have the courage to “hurry” to see Jesus so that the shepherds will be more visible in our world and our hearts then will open the hearts of the world to see what it is to live out our belief in Jesus.
1st Reading: Jeremiah 231-6
Psalm: Ps 22 R v 2
2nd Reading: Ephesians 2:13-18
Gospel: Mark 6:30-34
Today’s readings are filled with promise – a promise that will be fulfilled if we keep our eyes on Jesus and our hearts open to Jesus. We are promised that Jesus will always shepherd us. We are promised that through the cross peace will be restored.
Our gospel shows the energy present in the disciples as they had gone out and preached what Jesus was teaching them. But Jesus knew this energy needed to be nurtured – he knew that he was the one to nurture them and makes it very clear that they needed time to reflect upon what had happened to them and those around them on this journey of mission. This journey of mission brought them back to Jesus.
But in the midst of all this we see the attraction that this small group of people had mustered. People “hurried” to follow them. There is a sense of desperation present on the part of the people – they do not want to lose this opportunity and they drop everything to get a glimpse of the mystery before them.
Jesus also senses this and even though he had planned to spend time with his disciples he responds with great compassion to the crowd. He sees their desperation – he sees that they are lost – re recognizes they have no one to lead them to what their hearts are longing for.
How do we read all this today?
The disciples believed in Jesus even though they continually failed and didn’t yet understand what was before them. It was their belief that kept bringing them back to Jesus. Where is this belief present in our world today? Our world needs desperately people who believe in Jesus – every Christian person is called to be a disciple of Christ.
Yet we have world leaders that proclaim a belief in Jesus while at the same time they are the ones who continue to crucify love – they are crucifying Jesus over and over again in the name of seeking democracy and peace. We have a world that has over one billion people proclaiming to be believe in Jesus and yet this collective voice is deafeningly silent in the name of love.
Where are the shepherds today?
Even the church leadership while it has pockets of people in leadership that dare to speak out about the atrocities our world currently faces, there are many who remain silent. This silence is a total abdication of the shepherding role our church and political leaders are called to give. It is nothing short of shameful.
But the shamefulness of it cannot end there. Every person who proclaims a belief in Jesus has a responsibility to name evil for what it is and to do all in their lives to act against it. This call to discipleship will leave us at times with an enormous sense of powerlessness and helplessness but none the less we must keep on loving. It is these people who can truly love in their lives that will shepherd us.
It was this loving that was so deeply attractive to those who truly followed Jesus and it is this loving that brings hope to our world today – but it is the responsibility of every person who proclaims a belief in Jesus.
In a world that has become so subjective and dependent on self reliance this call can seem impossible. And of course it is impossible if we do not keep our focus on Jesus. This is why the world needs people who truly believe in Jesus because they will help us see what is truly possible when we do believe - they are our shepherds along with Jesus.
When we become so consumed with ourselves we will almost certainly lose sight of the vision Jesus lived and showed us. When ever we lose the vision we can be assured we are in deep trouble. This lost vision is present in all parts of our world including the church.
We all must reclaim this vision. The longer we sit on our hands and silence our hearts we will continue to spiral out of control – and we will continue to be bewildered by a world that seems to have gone mad.
Let us pray in the coming week that we will have the courage to “hurry” to see Jesus so that the shepherds will be more visible in our world and our hearts then will open the hearts of the world to see what it is to live out our belief in Jesus.
posted by Annemarie Reiner at 12:37 PM
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