Pastor's Message
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 20-21 July 2024
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HS
JMJ
My Dear Fellow Saints-in-the-Making,
Greetings in Christ Jesus the Prince of Peace!
As Holy Mother Church celebrates the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jesus welcomes His Twelve disciples back from their preaching in the neighboring towns. They are exhilarated by what they have experienced and what, through the Grace of Christ Jesus, they could do: cast out demons, cure the sick, preach the Good News and move hardened hearts. Indeed they are exhilarated but also exhausted. Our Lord offers them some time of rest.
They are, however, surprised to discover that what was thought to have been a deserted place is instead crowded with a multitude of people from all the towns. So desirous are they to see Jesus and to be healed by Him. It seems that the disciples’ time of rest is indeed very short-lived.
But the opposite is true.
If we pay close attention to the Gospel, we will realize that when they arrive at the “deserted place”, it is Jesus Whose Heart is “moved with pity” for the vast crowd and Who then begins “to teach them many things.” What Jesus has done is take the burden of ministry off of the shoulders of His disciples and place it on His own, just as the Good Shepherd places the lost sheep on His shoulders to take it safely back to the sheepfold. After all, the people gathered are “like sheep without a shepherd.”
In so doing, Jesus teaches His disciples many things as well, namely, that they are receiving the rest He has promised them. How? Because they are resting in Him, for it is in Jesus Christ and Him alone that they have found their rest. Indeed, in this “deserted place” where Jesus puts the anxiety, fear, and worries of the vast crowd at rest, He demonstrates to His disciples what St. Augustine would write some 400 years later: that our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.
Many of us find these Summer months the ideal time for some “rest and relaxation.” But few of us seek out a “deserted place” for our much sought after “R and R”. Case in point: how many thousands come to the beach each week from Memorial Day to Labor Day? Hardly a deserted place. And yet, in today’s Gospel, Jesus demonstrates that even amidst throngs and crowds of people, one might rest, so long as one seeks it in Him.
An easy way to do that is to read some excerpts from Sacred Scripture. Many people going to the beach enjoy a beach read and are able to tune out the activity that is surrounding them. Instead of tuning out the activity, I’d like to invite us to tune into our Blessed Lord Jesus by contemplating some verses from the Psalms that are quite appropriate for the beach:
Psalm 93: “The Lord is king, with majesty entombed; / ...The world you made firm, not to be moved; / your throne has stood firm from of old. / From all eternity, O Lord, you are. / The waters have lifted up, O Lord, / the waters have lifted up their voice, / the waters have lifted up their thunder. / Greater than the roar of mighty waters, / more glorious than the surging of the sea, / the Lord is glorious on high.
Psalm 145: “I will give you glory, O God my King, / I will bless your name for ever. / I will bless you day after day / and praise your name for ever. / The Lord is great, highly to be praised, / his greatness cannot be measured..../ How good is the Lord to all, / compassionate to all his creatures.
Psalm 148: “Praise the Lord from the heavens, / praise him in the heights. / Praise him, all his angels, / praise him, all his host. / Praise him, sun and moon, / praise him, shining stars. / Praise him, highest heavens / and the waters above the heavens. / ...Praise the Lord from the earth, / sea creatures and all oceans, / ...Let them praise the name of the Lord / for he alone is exalted. / The splendor of his name / reaches beyond heaven and earth.”
What we seek every Summer, Our Lord provides for us every Sabbath, every Sunday: a day of rest.
At Mass, on the beach, or wherever you find yourself, remember the words of St. Augustine: “Lord, our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
God love you! I do.
Fr. Lewis
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Jesus must increase; I must decrease. John 3:30