Piety
May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the
great shepherd of the sheep by the Blood of the eternal covenant, furnish
you with all that is good, that you may do his will. May he carry out in you what is pleasing to
him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21
Study
The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported
all they had done and taught. He said to
them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great
numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. Mark 6:30-31
Sounds like Mark is giving
us the first account of a Cursillo group reunion. My guess is that Peter, Andrew, James, John
and the rest gave an account of their week including the moments when they felt
closest to Christ. The notes from the New
American Bible explain that the withdrawal of Jesus with his disciples to a
desert place to rest attracts a great number of people to follow them. Just as
Jesus fulfilled the inner longings of the Twelve, the Lord now turns his
attention to the bigger church. Toward
this large gather of people of the new exodus Jesus is moved with pity; he
satisfies their spiritual hunger by teaching them many things, thus gradually
showing himself the faithful shepherd of a new Israel.
We often see Jesus exemplify
going away to rest a while in prayer. Jesus
endorses vacations, sabbaticals, and holidays and everything that is good. However, you do not get all good things to
surround you for your personal aggrandizement.
Hardly. You get all good things
so that you may carry out God’s will – not your own.
Every person needs to make
sure her or his battery is fully charged.
To do so, we need to get out of circulation one way or another. If it were only as easy to recharge our
batteries as it is to plug in our phones.
Without pausing to rest a while, we may find our missions stalled on the
side of the road awaiting a “jump start.”
Today’s Gospel recognizes
that sometimes we have to retreat to recharge before we can resume.
How do you jump start your
battery? Listening to a great
teacher? Participating in a vibrant and
meditative Mass celebration? Going on a Cursillo
weekend as a candidate, team member or supporter? Group reunion? Vacations?
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