I do as you
requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has
never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to
equal you. In addition, I give you what you have not asked for, such riches and
glory that among kings there is not your like.” 1 Kings 3:12-13
When Jesus
disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for
they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many
things.
Mark 6:34
Piety
“Come
away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
Study
The
Holy Land has been a busy place. After
Jesus had shown his hand by curing people with diseases and driving out demons,
he commissioned his disciples to do the same.
They went forth without too many heavy bags to weigh them down. When they returned, Jesus rewarded them with the
promise of a retreat. “Come away by
yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” But there was no
escaping the actions people desired once they know how Jesus would answer their
prayers.
The
attempted withdrawal of Jesus and his disciples to a desert place is
interrupted. Their “rest” attracts a
great number of people following them. “Toward this 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.”[i]
While
it might be easy to focus on continuing buildup of the good works performed by
Jesus, instead peer into the hearts of Solomon and Jesus as revealed in today’s
readings. Solomon could have asked the
Lord for anything. Yet in humility, he
requested a wise and understanding heart.
He was blessed with compassion and wisdom beyond all in history before
and since. That compassion was embedded
in the sacred heart of Jesus. Jesus took
that compassion and made it the mission of his disciples.
Despite
wanting to reward his disciples with a retreat and rest, they were followed by
throngs of people wanting to hear more and ask more…all leading to the next
miracle – the feeding of five thousand.
Action
This
reading from Mark 6 sometimes appears in the Daily Readings in July. It’s easy to hold it in your heart when planning
a beach vacation. Jesus invites us on
vacation with him. However, the invitation
comes as a reward not for doing OUR work, but for doing HIS. Maybe it is more appropriate to appear in our
readings in the middle of a cold February week when the remnants of the Jonas
Blizzard are still melting from our streets.
Have
I spent the past few weeks doing his work or mine?
Jesus
gives us what we do not ask for – the cross of his compassionate heart. He asks us to focus not on our own wishes. He
shows us to put aside our desire for rest when the needs of the many press upon
our hearts and minds.
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