16th Sunday B

16TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME　YEAR B


Gospel reading: Mark 6:30-34

Introduction to the Celebration

The desire to be in the presence of the Lord and to listen to his teaching is what draws us together each time we assemble as a church — just as we are doing now. Today we hear of early groups of people who also had the desire to be with Jesus and how he took pity on them 'because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length'. Let us set the tone for our celebration by thinking about our need to listen to the teachings of Jesus so that they can bring light into our lives.

Gospel: Mk 6:30-34

Today's passage is the prologue to the story of the feeding of five thousand men with five loaves and two fish (6:30-44) — a story whose perfect form is found in Mark. As the prologue, it is there to establish the reason why the people were there and in need of feeding. As a distinct element within the story, it shows us Mark combining the images of shepherd (one who guides and protects), teacher (one who feeds understanding and guides) and the one who cares (feeds with food and looks out for the people) in the person and work of Jesus.

The opening verses of this passage 'come away ... and rest awhile' have launched a thousand retreats — but with scarce respect for the actual meaning of Mark's text. The whole point of Mark's story is that while it might be nice for Jesus and the disciples to have time 'away from it all', that is not to be for the simple reason that there is a people in need of pity which manifests itself in teaching.


Homily Notes
1. The gospel is so simple that it seems hardly worth preaching about it. Living in an age of celebrity we are used to the idea that people like to go and see where the 'action' is. Everyone who sets themselves up as having answers or a 'lifestyle guide' — no matter how bizarre — has a following. And one of the ways you show that someone is unusual, special, a curiosity, or a 'star' is to make sure that the 'groupies' get to each photo opportunity and that the paparazzi are anxious to be there all the time. Could it be that this is what we have just read — and that Mark is just glad that Jesus had such groupies?

2. On a practical level there is nothing remarkable about the scene: it all takes place over distances of just a couple of miles along the shore of a small lake and there were plenty of lonely places just behind the small village settlements that are referred to in the gospels as 'cities'. Moreover, we are so used to hearing of miracles or healings or exorcisms — all of which can cause us to wonder 'what was that really like' or which make us feel uneasy; or hearing bits of Jesus's preaching we find hard to apply to our own lives, that we are apt to dismiss something like today's gospel as an irrelevance!

3. However, the fact that 'Jesus took pity on them ... and set himself to teach them at some length' contains a lesson for us that is of the first importance. This is what we must explore in the homily today.



4. It is very easy to think of Jesus taking pity on people. Sinners, poor people, sick people, hungry people, people in mourning, paralytics, outcasts such as Zacchaeus (or some other tax-collector), people possessed by evil spirits: in each of these cases we can think of Jesus taking pity and then either doing something about it or teaching us about our duties of pity. He pitied sinners and forgave them; he pitied the sick and healed them; he pitied the widow and raised her son to life; he had pity for outcasts and made them welcome at his table; and he preached that we, his disciples, should take pity on the hungry, the poor, and those who are suffering. But the pity he shows today does not fit this pattern. He takes pity on the whole people — rich and poor, healthy and sick — and the form that his pity takes is teaching.

5. The idea that Jesus takes pity on people because they are like 'sheep without a shepherd', and the idea that teaching could be an expression of pity / mercy, are two ideas that are very alien to us. On the one hand, we do not like the idea that we need to be taught: we are in love with the notion of our own autonomy. This is expressed in the atheist sentiment: don't walk in front, I may not follow; don't walk behind, I may not lead; let's just walk beside each other! On the other hand, teaching conjures up someone who knows what we do not and tells us — implicitly showing up our imperfection — and teaching also seems to be just a technical skill: imparting boring skills be they how to cook, do arithmetic, a language, or car-maintenance. Teaching is no more than 'transferring skills' — to use modern educational jargon.

6. But these notions of autonomy and of our human need to be taught are incompatible with the basis not just of Christianity, but all monotheistic belief. It is our belief that the universe — be it the outer universe of atoms or galaxies or the inner universe of our human existence — cannot be understood without reference to God. God is the maker of all that is, seen and unseen, and without thinking about God and the divine origin and purpose of the universe, there is something lacking in our understanding, in our judgements on how we should act, and in the depths of our hearts. As Augustine said: 'You, 0 God, have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless without you.'

7. Yet, modern society tries to live in a God-free zone and make out that the divine is an optional extra, no more than a personal choice. While, at the same time, the'body, mind, spirit' shelves of bookshops groan under the number of books by lifestyle consultants that promise happiness by a mix of diets, mind-games, and ways of re-arranging the furniture in your home. The God-free zone is also a happiness-free zone.

8. We only become fully human when we recognise that there is more to life than the sum of the bits we can manage, the bits we can cope with, and the bits we can see. This recognition is rarely a blinding flash of understanding that there is a 'God-shaped aperture' in our existence, rather it is, more often than not, a painful discovery that we would almost be glad to avoid. Yet in this discovery we need also to appreciate the wisdom who teaches us — here lies the mission of Jesus the prophet and teacher. He teaches us to become aware of the deeper needs of our humanity: to see ourselves as the Father's children, to work together to build the kingdom, and the need to journey through life towards our true home. Jesus both teaches us of our fundamental dependency on God, and of the love that God constantly offers us.

9. We as a community continue that teaching: not just transferring skills such as how to pray or how to help the poor, but teaching in the sense of bringing people to wisdom. This is the wisdom that knows that our lives are incomplete without acknowledging who we are as creatures within a God-given universe.


10. The people hurried after him, and he set about teaching them at length. Here is a hard question: are we willing to sit as students (the same word as 'disciples' except it is less pious) at the feet of Jesus — and be taught at length?


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