God, Compassionate Like a Mother

July 18, Sunday

sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

What a pity if our world would become so heartless as to do away with compassion, with pity! We hear today’s Good News that God cares for us with a love deeper and even more tender than that of a mother for the child to which she gave life. He is particularly close to those who need him most: the weak, those who suffer, those who count for nothing. That is the love he showed us in Jesus; that is the love he invites us to have for each other: deep, tender, lasting, not afraid of showing itself. Let us ask Jesus here with us in the Eucharist for such a compassionate and committed love.

 

First Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6

An Authentic David-Branch

 “Doom to the shepherd-leaders who butcher and scatter my sheep!” God’s Decree. “So here is what I, God, Israel’s God, say to the shepherd-leaders who misled my people: ‘You’ve scattered my sheep. You’ve driven them off. You haven’t kept your eye on them. Well, let me tell you, I’m keeping my eye on you, keeping track of your criminal behaviour. I’ll take over and gather what’s left of my sheep, gather them in from all the lands where I’ve driven them. I’ll bring them back where they belong, and they’ll recover and flourish. I’ll set shepherd-leaders over them who will take good care of them. They won’t live in fear or panic anymore. All the lost sheep rounded up!’ God’s Decree.”

 “Time’s coming”—God’s Decree—
    “when I’ll establish a truly righteous David-Branch,
A ruler who knows how to rule justly.
    He’ll make sure of justice and keep people united.
In his time Judah will be secure again
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name they’ll give him:
    ‘God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.’

 

Second Reading: Ephesians 2:13-18

But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.

The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

 

Gospel: Mark 6:30-34

Supper for Five Thousand

The apostles then rendezvoused with Jesus and reported on all that they had done and taught. Jesus said, “Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest.” For there was constant coming and going. They didn’t even have time to eat.

^32-34 So they got in the boat and went off to a remote place by themselves. Someone saw them going and the word got around. From the surrounding towns people went out on foot, running, and got there ahead of them. When Jesus arrived, he saw this huge crowd. At the sight of them, his heart broke—like sheep with no shepherd they were. He went right to work teaching them.

 

Prayer
Our loving God,
your Son Jesus has revealed you to us
as more tender, warmhearted and compassionate
than any mother could ever be.
Be near to all who are wounded in life,
care for all the little people trampled upon.
Make all those who follow your Son
people who can forgive and heal,
who make themselves nourishing bread
for all who are hungry in any way.
Make us care for one another
as you care for us through Jesus,
your Son and our Lord for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Come and rest for a while

The task that Jesus entrusted to the Twelve was not entrusted to them alone, but to each disciple; so today he entrusts it to us. This is the invitation in today’s Gospel: to gather around Jesus to tell him what we are doing, what we have done, and what we are teaching to see and verify if we are doing the mission correctly. I am borrowing a few thoughts from Fr. Armellini in this reflection.

“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” This is the invitation that
Jesus addresses to us today; An invitation to meet him in the privacy of our personal time with him in prayer. If you have become angry with an employer, if you are tempted to compromise your conscience, if you are agitated by family problems or troubled by a bad love relationship, stop for a while. Look for these moments in which you are alone with Christ, with his Gospel, to know what he thinks of those problems, of your anguish.

These are the moments of prayer, of dialogue with Jesus; after dialoguing with him to tune our options according to what he likes. If we do not pray, we do not see it together with Jesus, problem-solving becomes the only purpose of our life, which ends up dehumanizing us; makes us lose sight of the highest values. And our life becomes an excessive running that in the end leaves us breathless. This is our daily experience, and we get exhausted. This invitation to rest is addressed to all the disciples, in particular, this is a recommendation that perhaps applies more to priests and leaders of the Church, who are involved full time in pastoral activities to the point that they no longer have time even to pray.

The evangelist says that there were many coming and going, and the disciples no longer had time even to eat. It doesn’t say they were looking for Jesus to hear his message; it says they ‘come and go.’ This kind of people wastes a lot of time. There was a lot of confusion, people coming and going, and what does Jesus do? He departs with his disciples. How is it that Jesus leaves in that boat when so many people were looking for him?

It’s a time when it’s good to let people reflect, to become aware of the need to meet Christ. To help them identify what do they actually want. The Christian community represented by that boat is beautiful, then it attracts. People must have said, ‘those people in the boat look really happy.’ Joy is the sign of the presence of the Spirit. This crowd looking for the boat is the living image of humanity today who does not find the meaning of their lives but feels a deep need to find peace, serenity, joy, inner harmony; they are looking for God

Video available on Youtube: Come and rest for a while