Dear Parishioner,

      In this Sunday’s Gospel we see a challenge which we all face: our need for prayers and silence when, at the same time, we reach out to others. The apostles re-join Jesus after he has sent them out on their mission to evangelize the towns and villages of Israel. They go by boat to a lonely place so that they may rest awhile. A great crowd gathers hurrying on foot to get to the disciples “quiet place” before them. We should note the response of Jesus to the crowd: He sees they are “like sheep without a shepherd” so he sets out himself to teach them.

       There can be real tension for us between prayer and active works of charity. We see the others’ need and our heart goes out to them. At the same time, we need to see our own need for prayers and reflection – it is easy to forget this in our busy lives. In this Gospel story Jesus solves the problem by teaching the people himself “at some length”. We need to realize that we cannot do it “all by ourselves”. We need prayers and reflection, just as we need the grace of the sacraments. Therefore, we need to plan our prayer times (of course there will also be opportunities for spontaneous prayers too) and trust that the Lord will supply- helping others when we cannot.

        In all this we can be inspired when we try and respond to those who are like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus saw that this crowd did not really know what it wanted – it was lost. Now the people had found him, and He did not let them down. Just as we must help others we must see our own need for help. Even in our comfortable moments we need to be in no doubt that we are nothing and nowhere without Christ. There also times when we need to say to Jesus – I am lost – help me! This cry of humility strengthens us because we are now relying on our Saviour – who else would we rely on? “Jesus, I trust in you”.

D Timothy OSB