Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Gospel - Mark 6:30 34
Summary
TLDRThis sermon discusses the transition from Mark 6:30-34 to the Gospel of John, focusing on the theme of nourishment through divine wisdom. It highlights the absence of sound leadership, exemplified by Herod Antipas, and the need for a true shepherd like Jesus who teaches and heals. The sermon emphasizes the importance of rest and spiritual retreat for apostles and all believers, stressing the necessity of being refreshed in God's presence for strength in evangelization. It concludes by underscoring the significance of truth and education in the Christian life for greater freedom and peace.
Takeaways
- đ The scripture reading from Mark 6:30-34 serves as a transition between the missionary section and the theme of nourishment in the Gospel of Mark.
- đ For the next five Sundays, the Gospel of John will be used in the service due to its more theological and helpful discourse on the Bread of Life, which is central to understanding spiritual nourishment.
- đ The concept of 'sheep without a shepherd' refers to the absence of sound leadership and the need for a true shepherd, as prophesied by Jeremiah and exemplified by the corrupt leadership of Herod Antipas.
- đĄ Jesus demonstrates divine power not only through miracles but also through teaching and preaching, which is likened to feeding the spiritually hungry with the truth of the kingdom of God.
- đ The teaching of Jesus is described as healing because it liberates people from evil and falsehood, emphasizing the importance of truth in spiritual health.
- đ The Gospel of Mark emphasizes the importance of being with Jesus, learning from Him, and experiencing His presence for personal refreshment and strength.
- đ§ The rhythm of apostolic activity includes periods of intense labor followed by rest, reflecting the need for spiritual refreshment in the presence of God.
- đ The Christian life is characterized by a balance between work and rest, highlighting the necessity of being refreshed in God's presence to be effective in evangelization.
- đ The importance of prayer and spending time in God's presence is underscored as essential for strength and fulfillment in doing God's work.
- đ The teaching of Jesus, as found in the Gospel of John, is set to lead to the Eucharist, symbolizing the true Bread from heaven, which is central to Christian life and spiritual nourishment.
- đ The script calls for a pause in the busyness of life to be refreshed and find peace in Jesus, reminding us that our strength and happiness come from God.
Q & A
What is the significance of Mark 6:30-34 in the Gospel of Mark?
-Mark 6:30-34 serves as a hinge between the end of the missionary section and the theme of bread and nourishment in the Gospel of Mark.
Why do the Gospel readings for the next five Sundays move from Mark to John?
-The Gospel of John is chosen for the next five Sundays because of its 'Bread of Life' discourse, which provides a more theological and helpful understanding of what it means to feed on Christ or to be fed by God.
What is the 'sheep without a shepherd' reference in the first reading?
-The 'sheep without a shepherd' reference symbolizes the condition of God's people in the absence of sound leadership, as prophesied in Jeremiah, where God Himself will shepherd His people.
How does the absence of sound leadership manifest in the script?
-The absence of sound leadership is exemplified in Herod Antipas, who was a corrupt and selfish leader, not helping the people but only himself.
What is the connection between teaching and feeding in the Gospel of Mark?
-In the Gospel of Mark, teaching is equated with feeding, as Jesus begins to teach the people because they are like sheep without a shepherd, demonstrating divine power through preaching and teaching.
What does the vast crowd in the script signify about the people's spiritual hunger?
-The vast crowd signifies the people's intense spiritual hunger for Jesus's teachings, as they are willing to follow Him to a deserted place, showing their desire for more of His teachings.
Why does Jesus invite the Apostles to 'come away and rest a while'?
-Jesus invites the Apostles to rest as a rhythm of apostolic activity, emphasizing the importance of periods of intense labor followed by rest, which is a participation in the kingdom of God.
What is the importance of being refreshed in the presence of God?
-Being refreshed in the presence of God is crucial as it is the source of our strength, happiness, and fulfillment, allowing us to be strong in Him and to do His work effectively.
How does the script relate the Christian life to a rhythm of work and rest?
-The script emphasizes that the Christian life has a rhythm of work and rest, indicating the need for God's strength and the importance of being refreshed in His presence amidst our labors.
What is the role of truth in healing and liberating us from evil according to the script?
-Truth, as taught by Jesus, is healing and liberating because it destroys the lies of the devil, offering us life in Christ and a better life as part of God's plan.
Why is education important in the context of the script?
-Education is important because it steeps us in the truth of the gospel, enabling us to gain greater freedom, peace, and to live a more fulfilling life as God intends.
Outlines
đ Transition to the Theme of Nourishment
The first paragraph introduces the scriptural focus for the upcoming Sundays, transitioning from the missionary section in Mark's Gospel to the theme of nourishment, specifically the 'Bread of Life' discourse in John's Gospel. It discusses the absence of sound leadership, referencing the condition of God's people without proper guidance, and the need for a true shepherd as prophesied by Jeremiah. The paragraph also touches on the corrupt leadership of Herod Antipas and the compassionate response of Jesus, who teaches the people despite their hunger and restlessness, symbolizing the spiritual nourishment they seek.
đ± The Rhythm of Apostolic Activity: Work and Rest
The second paragraph delves into the rhythm of apostolic activity, emphasizing the importance of rest and retreat after periods of intense labor. It highlights Jesus' invitation to the Apostles to 'come away and rest awhile,' signifying the necessity of being refreshed in God's presence for spiritual strength. The summary underscores the importance of experiencing the kingdom of God for oneself to effectively evangelize others. It also touches on the Western culture's fast-paced lifestyle and the need to slow down, spend time with loved ones, and prioritize God's presence for true happiness and fulfillment.
đ The Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Hunger for Truth
The third paragraph sets the stage for the Eucharist and the 'Bread of Life' teachings, highlighting the people's spiritual hunger for Jesus' teachings. It discusses the role of preaching in preparing the people for spiritual nourishment and the healing power of truth in education and living a life aligned with the gospel. The paragraph also promotes the importance of education in the Catholic Biblical School at Michigan, emphasizing the need for a deep understanding of the gospel for greater freedom, peace, and a fuller life as intended by God.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄGospel of Mark
đĄBread of Life Discourse
đĄSound Leadership
đĄSheep Without a Shepherd
đĄDivine Wisdom
đĄTeaching as Feeding
đĄSpiritual Hunger
đĄRhythm of Apostolic Activity
đĄPresence of God
đĄEvangelization
đĄTruth as Healing
Highlights
The passage serves as a transition from the missionary section to the theme of bread and nourishment in the Gospel of Mark.
The Gospel of John will be used for the next five Sundays due to its more theological perspective on the bread of life discourse.
The absence of sound leadership is a recurring theme, with a call for God to appoint proper shepherds for His people.
Herod Antipas is cited as an example of corrupt leadership that failed to serve the people.
Jesus recognizes unmet needs and begins to teach, symbolizing feeding the people spiritually.
Scripture often symbolizes receiving divine wisdom through the metaphor of eating and drinking.
Jesus' teaching is likened to feeding the spiritually hungry, likening it to the act of a shepherd.
The rhythm of apostolic activity includes periods of intense labor followed by rest, reflecting the need for spiritual refreshment.
The importance of being with Jesus to gain strength for evangelization and ministry is emphasized.
The Christian life is described as having a rhythm of work and rest, highlighting the necessity of God's presence for strength.
The teaching of Jesus is presented as a healing force that liberates from evil through the truth.
The Apostles' return to Jesus after their mission signifies the importance of rest and being refreshed in God's presence.
The spiritual hunger of the people is depicted by their pursuit of Jesus to a deserted place, showing their desire for His teachings.
The proclamation of the kingdom of God is seen as a means of healing through the destruction of lies by truth.
The importance of aligning personal plans and goals with God's agenda for a fulfilling and peaceful life is discussed.
The teaching that Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light is used to illustrate the simplicity of following God's plan.
The significance of education in the truth of the gospel for gaining freedom, peace, and a fuller life is highlighted.
Transcripts
this weekend we find ourselves in mark
chapter six and this is a short passage
verses 30 through 34 it actually serves
as a hinge between the end of the
missionary section of the Gospel of Mark
and then we start to get to the theme or
the major section on bread and
nourishment the next five Sundays in
fact we jump to the Gospel of John mark
has a bread section feeding of the 5,000
etc 4,000 how much our gospel you're
looking at but nonetheless we actually
moved for the next five Sundays to the
Gospel of John because his bread of life
discourse is more theological more
helpful to us to understand the true
meaning of what it means to feed on
Christ or to be fed by God
the first reading does reference in fact
the the absence of sound leadership and
we'll get to that I guess with the Sheep
and why they are shepherd without a
sheep and what that really means well
just what maybe we just cover right now
perhaps I don't know so the sheep
without a shepherd thing first of all is
that that that's a reference to the
condition of God's people in the absence
of sound leadership now Jeremiah is
prophesying pretty much they get to the
point more in that prophet Jeremiah that
God Himself will have to Shepherd his
people here in that section and
specifically he's talked about God
appointing his own shepherds and he's
war also scorning the ones that were
there you know that you're not
shepherding my people the way they're
supposed to be shepherded and of course
the absence of sound leadership is
exemplified in Herod Antipas who was a
corrupt selfish leader and he did not
help the people but only himself and so
then that's the kind of leadership that
Israel had and so then there's a need
for a real Shepherd who's going to feed
the people
and so then Jesus starts to realize very
quickly that there are needs that are
being unmet which is why he begins to
teach them anything
and so then there's this whole
understanding of that in the Gospel of
Mark teaching for mark is feeding and so
then scripture has always talked about
the the or it's frequently referenced
rather that receiving of divine wisdom
was symbolized by eating and drinking
and so then here Jesus teaches them many
things because they are like sheep
without a shepherd so his heart is moved
with great compassion for them and so
then so then he he teaches them even
though they're hungry even though
they're supposed to be resting even
though they are in the deserted place
and yes yet when they get off the boat
there there's this vast crowd all right
so then backing up kind of giving you
the homily backwards here so that's kind
of like where it ends is that he's
teaching them many things because we get
set up for the bread of life discourse
which takes place over the next five
Sundays but the point here is that Jesus
starts to teach them and he's exercising
his divine power in a different way
earlier in the Gospel of Mark if you
remember the last couple weekends you
know Jesus demonstrated the kingdom of
God through exorcisms miracle healings
power over nature with a storm at sea
which we didn't cover but it was in the
text if you keep going backwards in the
Gospel of Mark you'll see that he
demonstrates his divine power or his
saving power and that partaking in those
particular ways but now he demonstrates
it in a different way through this
preaching and teaching and the giving of
truth
why is truth teaching and why is truth
healing because it does liberate us from
evil
mark 127 a new authority our new
teaching with authority he commands even
the unclean spirits and they obey Him
and so then through this proclaiming of
the kingdom of God the lies that the
devil has we they are destroyed by the
truth which is why Jesus is teaching the
Apostles teaching is so important the
fact that the Apostles return and they
are reporting all that they have done
reported reported to Jesus what they've
done and taught probably means that
their preaching of what we cover last
week what they preach repentance right
their preaching of repentance hit the
mark now the people are very very
spiritually hungry for the teaching of
the Apostles and Jesus so hungry that
they know where they are going and they
hasten on foot to a deserted place which
no one really would go to you know no
one goes to deserted places it's like
where bad things are beasts and wild
wild beasts and bad spirits right let's
start thinking at the time so but that
they go to this deserted place because I
know that that's where he's going to
retreat with his disciples and so it's a
it denotes this spiritual hunger of the
people they get a taste of what Jesus's
teaching is like and they want more of
it so they are willing to go without
preparations which is why it sets up the
next five Sundays for the feeding of the
5,000 etc for the feeding of the people
there's a vast crowd there that these
people are very very hungry for that
Jesus's teachings so the apostles then
this is why Jesus says to them he says
come away and rest awhile why does he
say that he says that because they have
just come back and they have reported
all they've done and taught so here the
rhythm of apostolic activity is that
there are periods of intense labor with
rest
so actually withdrawal and rest is is a
participation in the kingdom of God
all right that's important for those
especially who work in ministry but it's
but it's important for all of us as well
I'll get to that point but the simple
point there is that remember the first
task of the Apostle was to be with Jesus
come away and rest a while now that you
have worked intensely let's go on a
retreat so that we can be refreshed in
the presence of God so the whole point
is that none of us can really even do a
whole lot we can't do anything if we go
by John all right John says without me
you can do nothing right so then we
can't do anything without Jesus so we
need his presence we need that stillness
alone in
presents to be refreshed to be restraint
tvind in him and so that's where our
happiness and our satisfaction and our
fulfillment comes from is from God
himself and if we don't spend time in
that presence then we're going to not be
able to be strong by him God Himself is
our strength especially when we are
doing his work of evangelization and so
then this is what we're all called to
we're all called to be missionaries in
one sense or another to call people to
the kingdom of God but if I don't
refresh myself in the presence of Jesus
then I'm not going to have anything to
give because I have not experienced
experiencing the kingdom of God for
myself all right so it's so important
again back to the first task of the
Apostles the first task was to be with
Jesus so important for the Apostles to
come back even after a period of success
that Jesus invites them to come away and
rest a while and so then we have this
simple understanding to be with Jesus
but for us everybody else if we're gonna
have happiness in life we still need the
presence of God we go through life very
quickly especially in the Western
culture we are very much attached to the
clock and we very much run with a rat
race and we hardly ever have any time to
tell our spouses we love them or our
children that we love them or encourage
them we are running running running
running running alright and this of
course is a prime example of how
important it is that we need Jesus we
need to stop and we need to be refreshed
the apes' good enough for the apostles
who are doing all kinds of apostolic
activity it's good enough for us
alright the Christian life has a rhythm
to it and yes this work and rest and
work and rest and work and rest all
right because we need God so much that
we need to be refreshed in his presence
he is our strength
this whole church is his strength excuse
me is his work right we need her
strength they hit this whole church the
work of the church is God's it's not
mine it's not yours
we might work like it depends on us but
it doesn't all right
that's where
you know if we if we start to
rationalize that my work is my prayer
then that's where the our agendas start
to imperceptibly become substituted for
God's agenda all right because I have
not been taking time with prayer
I'm not refreshed in the Lord then I'm
not strong in history I'm not strong
because of him I'm strong because I'm
pushing my own agenda and it's a pride
thing that starts to take over so if
you're very careful about that what we
want to do and remember you know my yoke
is easy my burden is light okay the Lord
has a plan for each of our lives and he
wants it to be easy enough and we make
things more difficult when we start to
carve our own plans out of our own lives
it's good to have goals it's good to
have a plan but we always want to
subject everything back to the Lord say
is this what we should be doing is this
what I should be doing Lord is this what
you called me to and that's it's and
that goes you know every part of our
lives especially all the very important
decisions we want to be able to be sure
that we're doing what God is asking
because that's where we're gonna find
the most fulfillment the most happiness
and and that's where we're gonna find
the most peace and so come away and rest
awhile here at the Lord here this
passages is just setting us up for what
it's going to what is about to happen
the Lord wants to feed us and first here
he's he's priming them with it with the
preaching of the gospel the preaching
the proclamation of the kingdom of God
he's priming the people and they they
are hungry for truth they are hungry for
what truth offers them which is life in
Christ and this better life that is
being offered them when he when we
finally get set up for the Eucharist the
bread of life the teaching leads to
being fed then with the true bread from
heaven and bread and for John 6:35
through 50 that actually bread is
actually a teaching for for him as well
so there's that section in the Gospel of
John that also called responds to the
Gospel of Mark where for a mark in this
section especially that teaching is
healing as
all right so then that's something that
we realize from the proclamation that
came of god the demonstration of the
kingdom of God through the miracles sure
and all those things earlier on but now
teaching and truth offers us healing
it's why it's so important for us to
live in the truth that's why education
is so important that's one of the
reasons that we're promoting the
Catholic biblical school at Michigan and
you're going to hear at the end of the
mass today is because education is so
important we need to be steeped in the
truth of the gospel so that we can gain
greater freedom and greater peace and
live a more fuller life that God is
calling us to
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