Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Mark 6:30-34
This Greek word that is here translated, pity, is used two other times in the Gospels. In these two cases, it is translated, “compassion”. It means very strong feelings of deep concern. The Good Samaritan experienced these feelings as he came upon the victim on the roadside. (Lk 10:33) The father of the Prodigal Son is described with the same feelings. “While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.” (Lk 15:20)
Another beautiful description of compassion is an old saying: One shows compassion that sees another person weep and tastes the tears. Compassion is the bridge from sympathy to action.
One of the most powerful and sensitive statements from Vatican II captured this rich evangelical call for compassion: “The joys and the hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well.” (Gaudium et Spes #1)
As Jesus is filled with compassion, his first response is to teach the people. Jesus’ basic message to the people is of a God of love. He heals some and shortly he will feed the hungry crowd but his fundamental gift is an invitation into a love that will go far beyond the necessary healing and the urgent hunger of the large crowd that is a symbol for all humanity.
Jesus’ message to all is that in our broken and troubled human condition there is an opening to new life and the wondrous love of a gracious God. The fundamental struggle of the Gospel of Mark is the failure of the disciples, as a mirror of us, to trust in the goodness and love of the God revealed by Jesus.
Jesus, acting in the desolate countryside and throughout his gospel journey, makes the divine message of love very real. He did this by always responding to the needs of those in his presence. This is how he is calling us to share in his mission to make the divine love real in our world. We are invited to share this love first with those present in our relationships and responsibilities. Then we are urged to continually expand our horizons of inclusion.
Our faith journey is similar to the disciples’ described by Mark. We, too, are burdened with the urge to move ahead on our own agenda. Like the disciples, we often find fault with Jesus’ plan and much prefer a plan of our own. The gospel lays out what should be the true goal of our life: to move away from our own self-centeredness to Jesus’ summons to make God the center. It is a struggle for us all the way.
Jesus, in his compassion, is patient with us as he was serene and peaceful with the crowd on the seashore, and especially with the disciples. Yet, he insists that his message is the way to truth, freedom and true happiness. His words are the gift of wisdom and light no matter how much his poverty and rejection and apparent failure shatter our common sense idea of reality. The Jerusalem call with the clear implication of suffering and death was a major impediment for the disciples. It remains the same for us today. Losing our life just does not seem to be the way to save our life.
Our agenda, like the crowd and the disciples, is for Jesus to fix our problems. Jesus, indeed, has compassion on our predicament of being flawed human beings. However, Jesus wants to fix us in a much deeper and total way. Jesus’ plan goes way beyond our very limited program. Jesus has a plan of compassion that shatters the narrowness and constraints of our dreams and hopes. The love revealed in his life and word open the possibility of satisfying the deepest hungers and longings of our heart that so often escape our awareness in the rush of life.
We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and be open to a new and marvelous journey of love in the midst of all our anxieties and fears. His compassion holds a hope we have hardly dreamt of. Deep personal prayer is the surest way to get in touch with this reality of true life and freedom buried behind the fear and disquiet in the depth of our hearts.
Another beautiful description of compassion is an old saying: One shows compassion that sees another person weep and tastes the tears. Compassion is the bridge from sympathy to action.
One of the most powerful and sensitive statements from Vatican II captured this rich evangelical call for compassion: “The joys and the hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well.” (Gaudium et Spes #1)
As Jesus is filled with compassion, his first response is to teach the people. Jesus’ basic message to the people is of a God of love. He heals some and shortly he will feed the hungry crowd but his fundamental gift is an invitation into a love that will go far beyond the necessary healing and the urgent hunger of the large crowd that is a symbol for all humanity.
Jesus’ message to all is that in our broken and troubled human condition there is an opening to new life and the wondrous love of a gracious God. The fundamental struggle of the Gospel of Mark is the failure of the disciples, as a mirror of us, to trust in the goodness and love of the God revealed by Jesus.
Jesus, acting in the desolate countryside and throughout his gospel journey, makes the divine message of love very real. He did this by always responding to the needs of those in his presence. This is how he is calling us to share in his mission to make the divine love real in our world. We are invited to share this love first with those present in our relationships and responsibilities. Then we are urged to continually expand our horizons of inclusion.
Our faith journey is similar to the disciples’ described by Mark. We, too, are burdened with the urge to move ahead on our own agenda. Like the disciples, we often find fault with Jesus’ plan and much prefer a plan of our own. The gospel lays out what should be the true goal of our life: to move away from our own self-centeredness to Jesus’ summons to make God the center. It is a struggle for us all the way.
Jesus, in his compassion, is patient with us as he was serene and peaceful with the crowd on the seashore, and especially with the disciples. Yet, he insists that his message is the way to truth, freedom and true happiness. His words are the gift of wisdom and light no matter how much his poverty and rejection and apparent failure shatter our common sense idea of reality. The Jerusalem call with the clear implication of suffering and death was a major impediment for the disciples. It remains the same for us today. Losing our life just does not seem to be the way to save our life.
Our agenda, like the crowd and the disciples, is for Jesus to fix our problems. Jesus, indeed, has compassion on our predicament of being flawed human beings. However, Jesus wants to fix us in a much deeper and total way. Jesus’ plan goes way beyond our very limited program. Jesus has a plan of compassion that shatters the narrowness and constraints of our dreams and hopes. The love revealed in his life and word open the possibility of satisfying the deepest hungers and longings of our heart that so often escape our awareness in the rush of life.
We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and be open to a new and marvelous journey of love in the midst of all our anxieties and fears. His compassion holds a hope we have hardly dreamt of. Deep personal prayer is the surest way to get in touch with this reality of true life and freedom buried behind the fear and disquiet in the depth of our hearts.
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