I recently went through an extended season of life in which I was working many hours (well beyond the typical work hours). It was a classic situation where someone leaves the company, thus others are tasked with filling in until a replacement can be hired and trained. Because I work remotely, I often mesh my work, husband, neighborly, and fatherly duties together, having a fluid schedule and trying to allow the Spirit to direct the day. However, during this time period, work took much of my waking hours. This is not a complaint, just a statement. This is the way life works. Some seasons are busier than others.
At the end of the work day (or rather a break for dinner and bedtime for my kids before I went back to my computer in the evening), my son would ask me to pitch baseball to him, my daughter would ask me read her a book, or my wife would ask me to change the youngest’s diaper (or all three). In these moments, many mothers and fathers can relate: we are exhausted. All we want is a little peace to just sit. But the desire to satiate the hunger and thirst that our spouses or kids have for us is something greater, a higher form of love. So we pick ourselves up despite our tired disposition and give ourselves to those who ask for it (and if we listen to Jesus, we give twice as much as they ask for).
This is the situation in today’s Gospel. The twelve apostles have just returned from when they were sent out in pairs to proclaim the kingdom of God to the local villages. Mark tells us they went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. Now they have returned, understandably very tired, and Jesus tries to go to a secluded place to rest with them. However, the people desire more. They are starving for the Bread of Life, and they ache to hear the Word of God. They track Jesus and the Apostles down searching for more. And Jesus, like a good parent or shepherd of lost sheep, has pity on them and not only gives them what they are searching for (His teachings), but also gives them more than they asked for by feeding the crowd of 5000 people (which will be next week’s gospel).
In my heart, there are two takeaways from this Gospel. First, Jesus is always going to provide for us if we search for him. Even if the providing takes longer than we expect or is not the manner in which we expect it, He looks on us with pity and compassion. He is our Good Shepherd who will go as far as laying down His life for our good. Second is that if we want to be like Jesus and pursue sainthood, we need to be open to giving our ‘free time’ or ‘down time’ to love of others, regardless of our physical or emotional state. God will give us grace if we ask for it, we have only to take up our cross and follow Him.
