16th Sunday of Ordinary Times

Today’s Gospel pictures the Apostles returning to Jesus dead-tired from their mission of preaching the Good News. Their services were in such great demand that they didn’t even have time to eat. Jesus invited them to come with him to a lonely place so that they could rest a while. He wants to be with them, to encourage and strengthen them. They took a boat to a secret place. But the people, like sheep without a shepherd, reached the secret place before Jesus and the Apostles. When Jesus stepped ashore, he saw a large crowd waiting for him. Jesus, filled with compassion, took pity on them. In his tiredness, he surrendered his own comfort or vacation plans and set about teaching them at length. He shows what a good shepherd is and does.

Pope Francis in his address to the Roman Curia on Holy Thursday, he said: “I want shepherds with the smell of sheep…. and a father’s smile.” This smell, like all strong odors, clearly evokes many images, but the main one, the one that needs to be “smelled”, is without a doubt that of pastors who shepherd their sheep and not themselves; JUst as the prophet Jeremiah in today’s first reading, denounces the Jewish kings and leaders as useless and evil shepherds who cared only about themselves.

One of the important messages in today’s readings is that in love our Lord leads us, by teaching us and appointing others to teach us. But we need to listen, and we need to keep on listening. Through baptism, Christians today are engaged in the same ministry as the Apostles. Being a witness for Jesus and Gospel values can be very exhausting. The Gospel minister needs time to rest. But even while we rest, someone needs help.How will we respond? A 91 year old man told a short story of his spiritual exercise: that he began each day by prostrating himself for ten minutes with the palms of his hands open. In doing so he gave his whole day to the Lord and accepted everything that God would send him. What impressed me very much in this man was how flexible he remained in his old age, and how easily he could adapt to the unseen. I assume that the secret of his availability lies in the first ten minus of his day. G.K. Chesterton said, “Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.”