Last Sunday, our Gospel reading was from the 6th chapter of Mark, about how Jesus sent his disciples out two by two to bring his Good News to the world, giving them the authority to anoint the sick with oil and to cast out demons. One can imagine that this was a very intense, tiring experience for the disciples. In today’s Gospel, the disciples have returned from their journey, giving Jesus a report about what happened. We can imagine how they felt. After any of us has gone on an adventure or a long trip, we have a lot of stories that we want to share with our family and friends. Jesus must have sensed that the disciples were worn out and that they needed to get away to a faraway place in order to rest and renew, so he takes them to a deserted place. But peace and quiet is elusive. The crowds rush ahead of them to meet them there. Jesus and his disciples attract a great deal of attention, yet they need a break in order to continue with their work.
I think all of us have felt burned out at one time or another, so it is important for us to have times of renewal and retreat in our lives. We priests are required to spend at least a week each year on retreat or with spiritual exercise in order to renew both our bodies and our spirits. For me, going hiking and going on pilgrimage is what energizes my soul. What strikes me about both today’s and last week’s Gospels is how Jesus and his disciples work as a team. Jesus is their leader, that is for sure, but they work together in ministry and in proclaiming God’s kingdom. Many people in our society today think that they don’t need a church or organized religion in their lives, that a one-on-one relationship with God is enough. But that’s not the message we get from Holy Scripture in general, and it’s not the message that we get from the Gospel readings these past two weeks.
In a lot of ways, we as Christians in modern America are at a crossroads in the way we live out our faith. I remember as a child how Christianity was given a lot of respect in our country, how priests, nuns, and ministers were some of the most revered people in society. Today, organized religion seems to be under attack. Some of us wonder if we are going to enjoy the religious liberty to even practice our faith according to the laws and morality of the Church if these same attitudes continue to prevail in our society.
We are at the end of July. I think back how I came here to Pearl a year ago this time. I was really forward to coming here to Pearl. And I am very glad to be here with all of you. When I came here, we were in the midst of working on our three diocesan goals. Last month, in a homily, I spoke about the first goal of being an inviting and reconciling community, how we are reaching out to members of our parish and to the community around us in different ways. The second goal is for our parish to implement a program for life-long learning and formation in the faith. As Jesus continuously calls us to grow in our relationship with him, we seek to educate and form each person to become intentional disciples. We have mentioned the FORMED subscription that we now have in our parish. Through it, we will have access to a lot of different videos, podcasts, books, movies, and other educational materials that will help us to be formed as disciples. Last year, we had a women’s retreat in which we addressed everyday spirituality. This year, we will have separate one-day retreats for men and women with the title: Learning from the Saints. These retreats are good ways for us to take time to reflect about our faith and spirituality, about where we are with our relationship with God. We are also reconfiguring our library and hope to have it up and running sometime this fall. For a parish our size, we have a lot of options for religious education for children, youth, adults, and families. As these things come up, we will work hard to get the word out, and hope that you and your families will participate in our program of faith formation.
So as we have heard about Jesus and his disciples these past few weeks, about their work and their rest, about their missionary work and their witnessing of the Gospel to the world, let us think of the ways we can respond to the call just as they did.
No comments:
Post a Comment