homily notes: 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Last week, we heard how Jesus sent his Apostles out on their first mission. He commissioned them to preach and heal the sick and cast out demons. As intimidating as that mission is, they were apparently pretty successful - in this week's gospel the Apostles return, and they bring a crowd with them.

The people they had ministered to followed them back and when the Apostles meet up with Jesus again, they're not even able to take the time to eat. Jesus seems to sense this in them and so he comes up with a plan - they'll go off to a deserted place and rest. Jesus does this Himself throughout the gospels: he goes off to pray and spend time in communion with His Father.

And so they set off. I would imagine the disciples were relieved. They finally had a chance to stop and think and spend time sharing their experiences with Jesus. Imagine what they felt when they saw that the crowds had followed them.

We don't know what the Apostles thought or said, but we see Jesus' reaction. Just as the Apostles are in need of rest and reflection, the people who followed them are looking for something. Jesus has pity on them because they are, as Mark writes, like sheep without a shepherd.

This "shepherd reference" takes us back to God's promises in the Old Testament. In our first reading from Jeremiah, the Lord says that Israel's shepherds - their leaders - are misleading the people and have neglected their responsibility to care for them. In response, God says that He will shepherd His people Himself and He will raise up a king to do what is right and provide for them.

Jesus is that king. He sees the need of both the Apostles and the crowds, and he sees our needs as well.

Jesus knows when we are overwhelmed. He sees our sorrow at the death of a loved one. He has pity on us when we just don't know what to do. And so we should go to him.

I was thinking about this in relation to the tragedy in Aurora, CO a few days ago. Our modern instinct is to cling to the 24 hour news cycle, looking for more information, feeding the sense of outrage.

I'm not saying it's wrong to watch the news, but is that the right response to a horrible event like this one. I think the place to be, the healthy response, is to seek Jesus.

After this week, our Sunday gospels will switch from the Gospel of Mark to the Gospel of John for a few weeks where we will look at the Bread of Life Discourse - John's beautiful section on Jesus' gift of the Eucharist.

We are seeking peace and rest. As we look at the amazing gift of the Eucharist, let's go to the place where we can find it.