July 22, 2018 Sunday, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Jer 23:1–62nd Reading: Eph 2:13–18 Gospel: Mk 6:30–34
The apostles returned and reported to Jesus all they had done and taught. Then he said to them, “Go off by yourselves to a remote place and have some rest.” For there were so many people coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a secluded area by themselves.
But people saw them leaving and many could guess where they were going. So, from all the towns they hurried there on foot, arriving ahead of them. As Jesus went ashore he saw a large crowd, and he had compassion on them for they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began a long teaching session with them.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Jesus invited his disciples to withdraw from the people to a deserted place to get some rest. They tried doing so but people even got ahead of them to that place they intended to escape. This could be annoying to a person who is tired. Surprisingly, instead of getting annoyed, Jesus took pity for them. He said that they were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus set aside his personal need for rest and continued serving the people. Here we see him gradually revealing himself as the shepherd of the New Israel spoken of in the Book of Numbers 27:17 and Ezra 34:15.
If Jesus were historically present among us today, he’d find a totally different scenario. Fewer people seek him out, not because they are no longer spiritually thirsty but because they have invented lots of alternative gods. Take, for example, the thirst for peace about the future. Instead of working hard with full trust in God’s divine providence, they go to fortune tellers to know what lies ahead in an effort to be in perfect control of life. We can cite many other examples of how people have invented earthly solutions to spiritual problems. But addressing a spiritual need with worldly solutions is like taking soft-drinks to quench thirst. The more bottles of soft-drinks consumed, the more one gets thirsty because soft-drinks contain large measures of sugar. Some may not have given up the sacred for the profane. But they jump from one religion to the other looking for one that makes them feel good. It is not God they are really looking for but self-satisfaction at the physical level.
The people of Today’s Gospel were without shepherd, but at least they knew which desert to run to in order to find the true shepherd. Our case is more alarming because we do not know which shepherd to follow. Let us turn to Jesus. He alone is our true shepherd. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M. Email: [email protected].
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