If we do not see the first time, Mark repeats Jesus’ suggestion to the Apostles that they go by themselves ‘to a wilderness place’ to get a break from the crowds (Mark 6:31, 32). By the time they get there a great crowd has arrived and they are like sheep without a shepherd. Moved with compassion — this is one of the places where Mark uses a characteristic term — Jesus begins to teach them ‘many things’.

The desert is where many things are learned, and it is where the sheep are likely to become lost. The prophets spoke about the need for a new kind of shepherd. In today’s first reading, for example, Jeremiah says that God will set shepherds over them who will care for the sheep (23:4). Ezekiel says that God himself will come to seek out and to look after the straying sheep (34:11). The same desert, where the lost sheep wander, and from which they need to be rescued, is also where Israel will learn again what it means to be faithful to her Lord (Hosea 2:14-15).

Is Jesus here setting a trap for the Apostles in order to teach them something about teaching? Just before this, in sending them out two by two, he had not told them to teach or to preach (Mark 6:7-12). He gave them authority over unclean spirits and directions about their lifestyle on the road. We are told, however, that ‘they preached that men should repent’ (6:12) and on their return told Jesus ‘All they had done and taught’ (6:30). They are keen to be like him, and to do all that he is doing, not just casting out demons and healing the sick but, more importantly, teaching people.

Perhaps we can understand what happens next as Jesus saying, ‘you want teaching? I’ll show you teaching’. Leading them away to a desert place by themselves brings them slap bang into the middle of human distress: a great multitude awaits them, whose need evokes in Jesus the divine compassion. Jesus sets about teaching them many things and then says to the Apostles, ‘you give them something to eat’ (Mark 6:37). Their powerlessness is clear for all to see. They do not know what to do. They are unable to meet the needs of the people and have nothing to offer. They cannot be the teachers they want to be. They cannot be the shepherds the people need.

So, what is to happen first? Jesus must teach them the lesson of the cross and they must learn it. Jesus must give them his Spirit and then send them out to preach in the power of that Spirit.

Is it true that to teach people is ‘more profound’ than to cast out demons or to heal the sick? It certainly appears less dramatic, but does that mean it is more effective? Saint Augustine of Hippo believed that only God could properly be said to teach because it involves doing something within human hearts, not just presenting people with what is true but also enabling them to appreciate and to Jesus it as true. Saint Thomas Aquinas asserts that Jesus of Nazareth is ‘the most excellent of teachers’, greater than Socrates, because he can teach interiorly, not just outside as other human teachers do.

When Jeremiah says (again in the first reading) that ‘the Lord is our righteousness’ we can understand this to mean ‘the Lord is the one who gives us our hold on wisdom, justice, and truth’. The Lord is the one who enables or empowers us in regard to these things.

Jesus is the ‘righteous branch’ foretold by Jeremiah who makes peace between Jew and Gentile. He did this by promoting peace to those who were far off and peace to those who were near, the second reading states. That peace, shalom, is made up of wisdom, justice and truth. What made his preaching effective when the preaching of so many others are still ineffective? It is because he is love. When he completes this lesson on the cross it represents the love in His teachings, by dying he breathed forth his spirit’, the spirit of truth who leads those who follow him into all truth, the spirit of love poured into humanity.

Saint Augustine says that on the cross Jesus is like a professor on his chair. The lonely place where the scattered sheep are finally gathered is around the cross of Jesus. The lonely place where ‘many things’ are learned is at the foot of the cross of Jesus. The lesson is about love and truth, but not just as ideas, as reality. In today’s gospel, leading his Apostles to a wilderness place where a restless crowd need teaching, Jesus teaches them that there is a lot more involved in being a teacher like him than they yet realize.

Is it fear that pressures us to rely on modern technological advances to communicate? An intriguing question, perhaps. Are we too afraid to depend on the gift of memory? Is this the “power” mentioned in the passage from Mark’s gospel?

Mark writes about the power gave by Jesus upon those he sent out. However, he also instructed them on how important it was not to be restricted by unnecessary ‘baggage’. No extra tunic, one pair of sandals; little, presumably, in the way of food or money.

To be able to trust in the generosity of others is a great virtue, particularly in a society that nowadays rarely goes anywhere without a cell phone or laptop. Is it fear that we are relying more and more on artificial methods of communication? Is it true that we can no longer rely on memory, one of the greatest gifts of the Holy Spirit? The Twelve Apostles had no such restrictions or concerns in their preaching, going out to the entire world to share the Good News.

Remembering the great Christian preachers of the past, Paul & Barnabas, Dominic & Francis of Assisi, Vincent McNabb, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King, and, in more recent times, our own contemporaries, what inspires the preaching of the Good News is the News itself. The gospels never cease to inspire, regardless of how often we visit them – in fact, the more often we approach the ‘Word’, the greater the impact it should have on our lives, the more Christ’s power is working.

Jesus sent his disciples, his preachers, out into the world with a clear message: “Tell the world the Good News that I have given you.” Nothing else was necessary; no advertising, no TV commercials, no computerized back-ups; simply the word as it is given to them should be passed on without adding ‘baggage’.

The ability to preach the gospel, therefore, depends not only on externals but on a desire to convince one’s listeners of the validity, the truth, of the message one preaches. The impact of healing powers given by Christ and through faith can be varied, and no doubt was, and still is.

The Acts of the Apostles tells us that Christ sent his ambassadors into the world; however, Mark tells us that the Twelve set out and preached repentance, casting out demons, and anointing and healing many who were sick. St. Paul’s letters provide a more detailed & graphic overview of the impact of his early preaching.

The current ambassadors of the Word have a distinct legacy to cherish in their bringing the Good News to the world of today. Modern technology should help in that task, as it allows the message to reach beyond the boundaries of conventional church. Moreover, we should recognize the power that goes with the preaching of the Good News. Even the poorest of preachers can produce a powerful outcome in the minds of those who listen.

There is a warning: if there are people who refuse to listen, then we should not be afraid to shake off the dust from the feet, and leave the task to another person, possibly at another time.

They seem to listen but messages in this Passage from Mark tell us two things; one, that Christ’s church must not allow itself to get clogged down with too much “baggage”, too many irrelevant additional rules that may detract from the preaching message; and two that they must be prepared for those who refuse to listen, but stay determined to continue to preach the Good News in the same way that Christ himself continually preached.

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to meet Jesus? Or perhaps wondered about what it would have been like to be in front of him as he spoke his words and explained them? It would have been a privilege to have heard him, to have seen the things that he did.

Yet time and again in the Gospel, we find that when Jesus speaks to people, or when he teaches and preaches, people simply didn’t get it. It is easy to get frustrated when we read or listen to the Gospel, because people don’t understand who Jesus is. They don’t seem to understand what the message is about, and the power that the message might have. How could they be so blind?

Today’s Gospel is just such a frustrating passage. Jesus is acclaimed as one with wisdom and an ability to work wonders that does not match with his background as the simple carpenter, the son of Mary. The people are so distracted by their own ideas about who and what Jesus is and cannot allow themselves to really listen to what he says and look closely at what he does. They are not attentive enough to be able to truly see, and through seeing, truly believe.

If we are frustrated by this passage and by similar Gospel passages, we must take care that we do not fall into a trap. It would be all-too-tempting to pity these poor people who could not understand who Jesus was and come to believe in him. In doing so we might end up thinking that we are so much better than them. This would be to succumb to pride, something which St. Augustine refers to as the ‘love of our own excellence’.

Pride is certainly not good news, because it gives us the illusion that we already know it all and prevents us being disposed towards receiving from God. We may think we know all about Jesus, about who he was, and about the message that he preached, yet how often do our lives fall short of the demands that following Jesus makes of us? We may think that we get the message, but our lives so often suggest otherwise.

So, what are we to do? Well, we should take heart from our second reading. Paul had a dramatic conversion experience when he saw the risen Lord on his way to Damascus. This one profound experience was sufficient to change the whole course of his life, from being a person who persecuted the Church to being one of the greatest preachers and Church leaders.

Yet he understood that what he knew of Jesus might lead him to pride, and that God had his own way of keeping him in check. Paul’s weakness was God’s way of reminding Paul of who and what he was. The reality of Paul’s weakness shaped this energetic man into one who was truly zealous for the things of the Lord. It kept him humble, kept him in need of God’s grace.

And so, it is for us too. The word humility comes from the Latin word for earth, or soil. To be good Christians we need to have our feet firmly on the ground, and this means knowing who and what we really are. This is important, because we are then open to looking more closely at Jesus, and recognizing who and what he was. Then we can start living Christian lives that are shaped by God, attentive to his word, and open to the change that the Gospel message calls us to.

The next time we are tempted to think that we know all there is to know about Jesus, let us pause for a moment and think again. Let us dare to take a second look and strive to live the Gospel at a deeper level, asking that we might receive that life which Christ has promised us.

In today’s Gospel, we see the power of God at work in him, with the healing of the woman with the issue of blood and the return to life of the little girl. Sickness and death are part of our weakened human condition. I have been able to see the same experiences in the Gospel as more than just religious stories. Our modern-day equivalent is the miraculous cures in response to the prayers of the Saints, or the same experienced in places such as Lourdes.

It is perhaps a reflection of our modern illnesses, that more is done of the healing of mental illness than of physical illness. If we consider the most recent saints, they reflect the needs of our times. Mother Theresa, what she did for the poorest of the poor in their sickness and eventual death. Padre Pio, with the healings attributed to his work in the Sacrament of Confession, after the manner of St John Vianney, the Curé d’Ars. The healing of body and soul was facilitated by Jesus. What was more difficult to see and be aware of: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Rise take up your bed and walk’?

To the individuals that reached out to Jesus for healing and those of us that pray today requires faith. We see the witness to this in the Word of God in scripture, and in the gifts, he gave us in his body the Church, particularly the gift of himself in the sacraments of initiation. To believe, hope and love in baptism; the strengthening with the gifts of the Spirit in Confirmation; above all the gift of himself as spiritual food that we celebrate in the Eucharist. He reveals the sacraments of return, Reconciliation and Anointing. We are supported and become a community through the sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders. The sacramental imagery is further enhanced when we speak of the Church as the ‘Sacrament’ of Christ and the humanity of Jesus as the sacrament of God.

We see this enacted in today’s Gospel with the healing of long-standing illness, and the bringing back to life of one who has passed away. We will all eventually experience the death of a loved one and while the grieving process may take a long time or different to most individuals, we must keep the faith the same faith that the woman experienced by touching His robe. However, the effects of the emotional, and physical reactions of the death of a close family member or friend may eventually come to us and test this very faith.

This was as true for the closest followers of Jesus, witnessed to in the events of his passion, death and resurrection. As he leaves them again to return to the Father in the Ascension, there is a sense of sadness, loss and apprehension as they return to the upper room, to await the promised sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Spirit comes as teacher, comforter and advocate. As the depths of the revelation of God in Christ is communicated to us at the deepest levels of our being.

In today’s second reading, St. Paul reminds us that the love of God must be seen in the way we relate to each other, both as individuals and as communities. The economic crisis and the scandal of politicians’ expenses bring back to mind my grandfather’s old political slogan, ‘Fair share for all and priority for the needy’. It might seem old-fashioned but is surely a closer approximation to Gospel values than our present culture based on desires rather than genuine need. Surely the sacraments provide us with a model for the ‘Healing of the Nations’, in our own time, as we anticipate our sharing in the life of the Trinity in the future.

Did you ever have one of those days?  You know, one of THOSE days when you were tired, when you had had enuf, when you just wanted a break?  When you wanted to get away?  Me, too.  And apparently Jesus and the disciples had them on occasion.  In the Gospel reading for today, we find that Jesus wanted to ‘cross over to the other side’ of the Sea, so that he could have some time alone, away from the crowds, and with his disciples, for some quality time I would imagine.  The disciples were all for it, and away they went.  Jesus needed a break.  He gets in the boat, and goes to sleep.

And then it stormed…..  Not just your average run of the mill storm, but a STORM…..at sea even.  Thunder.  BOOM!  Lightening.  FLASH!  Waves so high over the little boat that it was tossed about.  CRASH!  And to top it off, the boat started filling up with water.  SLOSH…..Sink?  And Jesus slept on.  And on.  And on.

And then it happened.  The disciples, those stalwart fishermen, panicked; so much so that they wanted Jesus to panic, too.  So, they woke him.

Now, I dunno about Jesus, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t have a Keurig on that boat, but anyone who knows me well, knows, that no matter what, one does NOT speak to the Bishop when he first wakes up until after his (at least) second cup of coffee.  Can you not see Jesus?  He throws the blanket off and says, WHAT?

The disciples point out the storm, Jesus’s eyes focus, and then he gets it.  He understands what all the fuss is about…..and then, like so many of us, he says,

“Really?”

I can just imagine him rolling his eyes, and then saying to the storm, in much the way I talk to our cats, says, “Stoppit!”  The storm quiets, Jesus  grumbles about nonbelieving disciples, and goes back to sleep…..and the (nonbelieving) disciples are tripped!

Y’all….we’re in the midst of a storm now, even as I type.  Many of us are fearful and dismayed.  Many of us are angry.  Many of us are in turmoil.  And rightly so.  With so much uncertainty on the horizon, many of us feel that we are in danger of sinking.  And, I rather suspect, that many of us wonder if God is, indeed, sleeping, if the Creator exists at all.

But ya know, I can assure you that God is very much awake, and involved, in our lives.  Or at least the Redeemer wants to be.  How, you ask?  By living through and with and in us.  By us showing forgiveness. Charity.  Good will.  Reaching out. Love.  By standing up for what is right and good and true.  By peacefully protesting.  By donating time and money to those who are less fortunate that we ourselves.  By examining what we believe, what we hold dear, and comparing that to what Jesus has taught us that we SHOULD hold dear and believe. 

This storm is far from over.  FAR from over.  Before this storm ends, hearts will have to change, attitudes will have to change, laws, rules, regulations, the government, will have to change, society will have to change.  And before any of that can happen, WE will have to change.  We will, ALL of us, have to examine ourselves carefully, and honestly, to find the roots of our prejudice, our fears of those who are ‘other’ than ourselves.  We will have to look with new eyes at all of those with whom we come into contact, ALL of them, EVERY ONE of them, and strive to find the Jesus in each of them.  The Jesus in us must reach out to the Jesus in our brothers and sisters, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, ability or disability, political affiliation, or any of the other million and one things we use to denigrate, disgrace, and damn our brothers and sisters.

Like the disciples, we will be afraid.  Sometimes we may even panic.  But I can assure you that, like the disciples, we can go to Jesus.  And when we do, he will say to us, “Peace.  Be still.”  And in the calm and quiet that results from our trust in Him, we will be able, with full hearts, to grow, and to learn to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–1895) was one of the most beloved hymn writers of the nineteenth century, and she wrote a hymn that, I believe, is more than fitting for us today.

1 Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
of our life’s wild, restless sea;
day by day His sweet voice soundeth,
saying, “Christian, follow me.”
Jesus calls us from the worship
of the vain world’s golden store,
from each idol that would keep us,
saying, “Christian, love me more.”

2 In our joys and in our sorrows,
days of toil and hours of ease,
still He calls, in cares and pleasures,
“Christian, love me more than these.”
Jesus calls us- by Thy mercies,
Savior, may we hear Thy call;
give our hearts to Thine obedience,
serve and love Thee best of all.

When you tell a joke and someone stares blankly at you, you know they haven’t got it; and you know that if you explain it, it may eventually provoke a smile, but the fun has gone out of it. In other words, you may tell a story that illustrates a point, and it is quite normal to explain what you mean. Ezekiel told a story of a powerful eagle plucking the top of a cedar tree and transplanting it to another place, and that was meant to remind his hearers of what had happened when the king of Babylon had exiled the king of Israel and brought him to Babylon; the story we hear in today’s reading from Ezekiel is of God doing a similar – yet really very different – thing: God takes a shoot from the top of a cedar tree and plants it on a high mountain, and it becomes a noble cedar which provides shelter to many kinds of bird. The explanation is not a political one, though the listeners may well have hoped that Israel would be exalted by God and not humiliated by foreign rulers. The conclusion of the story (a story in the future) is that God is the true sovereign, and God is the only King. It is significant that the people of Israel developed an understanding of God’s greatness precisely at the time when they discovered themselves indistinguishable from themselves by political powers far superior than themselves. Instead of moaning about their defeat, or seeking an improved God, they realized that the God they had always believed in was greater than they had realized and had purposes beyond what they could understand. Note that the very high mountain on which God was going to plant the new noble cedar does not have a name, like Jerusalem or Zion; it’s beyond particular places and political systems, which exclude other places and systems; the power of God is a power over all of reality, including nature and politics; fundamentally it is a power to make things (and of course people) flourish and find a home.

The parables of Jesus are not stories that require an explanation, even though they are occasionally presented as if they were. Today’s two parables simply imply something and leave you to get it, or not, like a joke.

“This is what the kingdom of God is like”. “What can we say the kingdom of God is like?” (“Mark 4:30-32 – Bible.com”) And Jesus goes on to talk about everyday reality, nature doing what nature does. But this is not “just” nature: it’s nature seen with eyes which can spot a mystery: it’s not that the growth of the wheat or of the shrub is an illustration of the reality of the kingdom, a kind of visual aid which you could do without if you prefer to describe the kingdom in real terms. But what in real terms? What is more real than the miracle of growth which Jesus has just been talking about? Just let the story of growth be your way into the reality of the kingdom. There is a transformation going on, and maybe we can learn a kingdom mentality by hearing other stories of transformation, stories of hope; by becoming ourselves stories of transformation and of hope; by sharing hopes of transformation with others who long for our world to come alive, to be a home for all. Do I mean we must work with others to build the kingdom? No, I don’t. No way. We do not build the kingdom; it’s not that kind of reality. The kingdom is God’s kingdom, not ours. We will only be energized to do useful and creative work if we first learn to appreciate the miracle of the kingdom over which we have no control.

What these parables make us believe is life as a gift. (I’m not starting to explain them: I’m trying to sense, with their inspiration, what the God of the kingdom is like). In many, if not all societies, gifts are not really gifts at all; they are part of a system of exchange – think of Christmas presents and cards. But we do encounter people who simply give – and ultimately what they give is themselves. The kingdom is a divine gift from God. The wise person expresses gratitude.

In today’s Gospel Jesus was informed of the visit of His parents and relatives while He was teaching. At that time, many had been accusing Him of being with the demon and not of His mind. Jesus was trying to explain to them the foolishness of their accusation. Why would Satan destroy his own? It’s difficult to blame them. They were in desperate need. Jesus was attracting numerous people. They must resort to all kinds of methods to destroy His reputation.

However, Jesus’ reaction to the arrival of His parents and brothers and sisters was revealing. “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

The importance of biological relations is crucial. However, spiritual ones are essential and vital. What are biological relations if spiritual relations are abandoned or neglected? After all, our destiny is not for this world, but for the next one. Paramount in life is the result of salvation.

I had heard a similar story about a priest who has become a bishop. The priest was well-loved by his people and was being sought for advice. Others simply wanted to meet him even for a few minutes to hear his wisdom after his mass. One day, after mass, his mother wanted to talk to him. He had not been to visit her for a long time. His mother missed him so much, so she decided to attend his mass and hoped to talk with him after. When she went to the sacristy after mass, she saw a large group of people who wanted to meet her son. Worried about the reaction of her son and cautious not to create an issue if she will storm ahead of the line (She is the mother, remember?), she took her place in the line! You can just imagine the reaction of his son when she saw her mother after waiting in line. This time, it was the mother who lived in what Jesus taught. Blood relations are not passes to benefit from opportunities and graces. We stand in line if we should. We are baptized Catholics, and God’s will is not always the same as ours. Nor is it fulfilled when we are close to ministers or serve in parishes. We have a life to cherish. More importantly, we have a faith that we must live. We have a God to follow. We have a destiny to reach.

Some of that have family that do not or will not accept our choice to belong to the church family or even to follow Jesus. Some will even take steps to argue or belittle you to keep you from giving your time to the family of Christ. But As I have said on other occasions Jesus is not going to ask you about them on judgement day, He is only going to ask you, “Did you give my family your best?” Jesus Did!