COME APART, IN A LONELY PLACE, AND REST FOR A LITTLE BIT’

The Lord does not want them to feel like exclusive protagonists of the good they have done, giving in to the risk of appropriating what they have achieved. In fact, let us remember that the apostles were called and sent and the power given to them came from Jesus, by his authority.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The portion of the Gospel text chosen for the Liturgy of this XVI Sunday of Ordinary Time skips the entire narrative of the death of John the Baptist (MC 6,17-29), that, in Marc's opera, follows last Sunday's Gospel, where it is described at length and in great detail. Effectively, according to Marco's story, both Jesus and the disciples seem not to notice the Baptist's death. Which does not naturally happen to John's disciples who collect and bury his corpse. So too Matthew must have perceived this discrepancy and in fact in his work he establishes a connection between the death of John and Jesus who decides to go aside with his, because he writes:

«The disciples [of the Baptist] they went to get the body, they buried him and went to tell Jesus. Hearing this, Jesus left there in a boat and withdrew by himself to a deserted place. But the crowd, knowing it, he followed him on foot from the cities. They, got off the boat, he saw a large crowd and felt compassion for them and healed their sick." (Mt 14,12-14).

If in Matthew's version we can deduce that Jesus retreats to a solitary place to reflect on the death of his ancient master, we, instead, following Marco, we can look for other reasons for Jesus' invitation: « Come aside, in a lonely place, and rest a bit" (MC 6,31). Let us also remember that for Mark the story of John's death desired by Herod starts from the latter's observation about Jesus: «That John whom I had beheaded, It has risen!» (MC 6, 16). Here is the pericope inserted in the Liturgy of the Word:

"During that time, the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and what they had taught. And he said to them: “Come aside, you alone, in a deserted place, and rest a bit.". In fact, there were many who came and went and didn't even have time to eat. Then they went in the boat to a deserted place, on the sidelines. Many, however, saw them leave and understood, and they ran there on foot from all the cities and preceded them. Off the boat, he saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep that have no shepherd, and he began to teach them many things " (MC 6,30-34).

In Jesus' desire to listen to the apostles' report and in the desire they have to report what they have "done and taught" (MC 6, 30) we find the reason why He invites them aside. The Lord does not want them to feel like exclusive protagonists of the good they have done, giving in to the risk of appropriating what they have achieved. In fact, let us remember that the apostles were called and sent and the power given to them came from Jesus, by his authority. This evidence casts an early look at what will be the dynamics of the post-Easter mission and which concern the Church of all times. From the missionaries, the Apostles like any other announcer of the Gospel, a great deal of effort and enthusiasm is put into it, but the result is guaranteed by the strength of the Word which has within itself a power that surpasses even those who announce it (Rom 1,16). The temptation is always the same, that the correspondents perceive themselves as the architects of success and that the success is their own work alone. Jesus will teach the disciples, The evangelist Luke reminds us of this, that:

“When you have done everything you have been ordered, said: We are useless servants. We did what we had to do" (LC 17,10).

Jesus, inviting the Twelve to rest with him, he also invites them to detach themselves from what they have done and taught. In this sense we also understand the theme of rest and what follows next. As well as being a sign of human attention, like the one Jesus had towards Jairus' daughter who was brought back to life, inviting bystanders to feed her (MC 5,43), rest throughout Scripture also has a theological significance. We go from the rest of God to the end of the created work, to the repetition of the same in the writing of the Letter to the Hebrews:

«For he who has entered into his rest, he too rests from his works, like God from his own. Let us therefore hasten to enter that rest, so that no one falls into the same type of disobedience" (EB 4,10-11).

Even in the Gospel of Matthew we find an invitation to rest: «Venite a me, you all, that you are tired and oppressed, and I will refresh you" (Mt 11,28). The rest of the disciples, as well as having a very human value, it is very reminiscent of the spiritual awareness that the psalmist had sung about:

«The Lord is my shepherd: I lack nothing. On grassy pastures it makes me rest, He leads me to still waters. Refresh my soul, he guides me along the right path because of his name" (Shall 23).

At this point we understand that on the one hand distancing from the completed work is required, overcoming that human temptation to feel like its custodians and masters for all the effort that has been put into it, on the other hand, rest allows us to enjoy what is essential and which corresponds to the first reason why the Twelve were chosen: «He made Twelve of them, whom he called apostles, so that they could be with him and to send them out to preach" (MC 3,14). "Being with him" brings to mind that Gospel episode, reported by Luca, which sees the industrious Martha contrasted with the idle Mary who remains close to Jesus to listen to him. The two sisters, wrongly or appropriately, they have been taken as a model of the active or contemplative life:

«But the Lord answered her: «Marta, March, You struggle and you get acted for many things, But of one only one is needed. Maria chose the best part, that will not be removed " (LC 10, 41-42).

What follows is important, because it is a good introduction to what comes next, both in the Gospel and in the liturgical lectionary: the story of the "Multiplication of the loaves" will in fact occupy the Sundays of the liturgical year from next, the seventeenth, up to the twentieth. A decisive story that we also find in the entire sixth chapter of John and which will help us understand, through the sign of bread, who Jesus is and what gift he offers. The fact that the Church still continues to donate that bread today, in different ways, it makes us understand how important this is for the faith and life of Christians. Then Jesus with his disciples “went in the boat to a desert place, apart", but the narrator adds that "many saw them leaving and understood and from all the cities ran there on foot and preceded them" (MC 6,33). The reader in this way is not surprised when, landed, Jesus realizes that the place he has gone to is not at all isolated, but indeed it is more populated than ever. The reader, prepared by Marc's skillful narration, you ask: «How will Jesus react?». And the answer is soon given, given the large crowd: “He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (MC 6,34). Behind that feeling of compassion is the understanding of the profound thirst for the Word of God, of the Gospel, which pushed those people to precede the boat with Jesus and the disciples on foot to the other shore. They were "sheep without a shepherd".

In the Old Testament this expression occurs several times to indicate a people disbanded due to lack of leaders or due to bad leaders (Nm 27,17; 1Re 22,17; 2Cr 18,16; Gdt 11,19). However, we can also think of a veiled reference to the death of John the Baptist; Jesus feels he must continue his ministry so that the crowds who also flocked to John do not find themselves abandoned (MC 1,5). The unfulfilled desire, frustrated rest, it is thus seen not as a problem but as an opportunity. The rest project was set aside to meet the needs of the crowds. But as we have read, it is certainly not an ethic of duty that leads Jesus to this choice, but compassion. Rest can wait if a service as necessary as required is urgent and other times will come to retreat to secluded places and rest with his disciples.

Compassion is the origin and foundation of Jesus' action, therefore "he began to teach them many things" (MC 6,34). Just as he had noticed the need for rest of the Twelve, he now sees the hunger for the Word of the people who seek him. He doesn't feel annoyed or nervous about it, but immediately begins to preach and announce the Gospel. Agree to change your plan, because the compassion that Jesus feels is more than a feeling of pity or pity, rather a bringing the other inside oneself, welcome him deeply. Just as He had accepted the Father's plan:

"This is eternal life: that they know you, the one true God, and whom you have sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth, doing the work you gave me to do" (GV 17, 3-4).

Manzoni in his novel «I promessi sposi» gives an interpretation of what compassion is, its effects and what causes it from a religious point of view. In the twenty-first chapter of the work he reports the dialogue between the Kite and the Innominato who had ordered Lucia's kidnapping:

«…He made me feel too sorry». "Compassion! What do you know about compassion? What is compassion?». «I have never understood it as well as this time: compassion is a story a little like fear: if one lets it take possession, he is no longer a man". «Let's hear a little about what she did to move you to compassion». «O most illustrious lord! so long…! cry, to pray, and make certain eyes, and become white as dead, and then sob, and pray again, and certain words…».

What had the kidnapped girl done? if not asking the reason for the violence, beg for release and experience all the feelings and movements of the soul that can be experienced in such circumstances? Manzoni, after describing them and ascertaining the impotence of stemming the harsh contingency, says so in the novel: «Lucia turned to the One who holds the hearts of men in his hand...» (Cap. XX).

From the Hermitage, 21 July 2024

 

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