Jesus is David’s just shoot and his name is “The-Lord-our-justice.”  As King and Messiah, then, he cannot but attend to all the people with justice and mercy.  Through him, we can go near the Father in one Spirit.

To attend to his sent ones who now come back from their mission of preaching and healing, Jesus tells them:  “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”  It looks like he does not fail to notice that they need rest.

And that is how he is and acts.  That is to say, he makes sure first that he is right about what others need.  For he wants to attend to them in due manner.  For him to attend to others means to meet their needs.  He is not one of those who give pat answers before they know the questions.

But it is not enough for him to give them the chance to rest.  He notices also that those who tell him all they have done and taught are excited.  So, he cannot but attend to them in this regard; he wants to listen to them calmly.  He and they, then, have one more reason to be far from so many folks.  These come and go in such a way that they do not let them eat.

And so, Jesus and the Twelve go away by themselves in a boat to a quiet and lonely place.  But as he gets out of the boat, he sees a huge crowd that in haste has gotten there before them.  And he feels sorry for those who make up the crowd, since they are like sheep who have no shepherd.  No, he does not fail to attend to them; he starts to teach them many things.

Jesus does attend to others in a tender and caring way.

Yes, he always stands ready to attend to us who go to him.  He gazes at us with love and mercy, and he grasps that we suffer, are sad, confused, alone.  That is why he knows how to meet our needs in due and creative manner.

We, in contrast, find it hard to break the mold.  In hard times, what comes to mind is just such old solution that enslaves as:  what we might eat and drink in Egypt.  Jesus’ creative solution that frees is beyond our thought:  his loving presence (SV.EN XI:131), the coming, in his person, of God’s kingdom.  Yet this is the solution that counts so that, in the end, we may go near the Father, too, in one Spirit.

Lord Jesus, grant that we make known your love and mercy and get to attend in due and creative manner to those who are poor. 

21 July 2024
16th Sunday in O.T. (B)
Jer 23, 1-6; Eph 2, 13-18; Mk 6, 30-34