Faith and Life Integration
This Sunday’s Gospel reads…
The apostles returned and reported to Jesus all they had done and taught. Then he said to them, “Go off by yourselves to a remote place and have some rest.” For there were so many people coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a secluded area by themselves.
But people saw them leaving and many could guess where they were going. So, from all the towns they hurried there on foot, arriving ahead of them.
As Jesus went ashore he saw a large crowd, and he had compassion on them for they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began a long teaching session with them. [Mark 6:30-34]
There are three messages I got from the Gospel which are reflected to my life experiences this week.
REPORT…
Jesus in the Gospel gathered his disciples after commissioning them to preach, to heal, to cast out demons. The first highlight focuses on the message of REPORTING. How do we give account to our daily activities? Do we have substantial and significant reports worth telling? These questions are important to realize our responsibility and accountability to the one who commissioned us.
I had a busy week. Work and responsibilities are now piling up one after another. I find myself a different person as my mood shifts to pessimism. This happens when stress and pressure thrive the stillness.
To report is to be accountable. Several problems surface because many people neglect these what we call protocols of communication.
I attended the meeting on the Social Communication Commission. As the agenda were one by one discussed, there emerged the problematic trend which pulls down the congregation, the local communities and even sub-groups. We don’t communicate!
In reality, we CANNOT “NOT” communicate. We can only distort the communication process. We can only form judgments. Thus, if we don’t communicate properly, if we don’t inform, if we don’t articulate accountability, we lock ourselves into quandary.
Just the following day after the meeting, we had the colloquium on servant-leadership modules. After each sharer delivered his module, he was subjected to the panel… that is when the colloquium suddenly morphed into a thesis defense. What is noteworthy in this experience is the absolute contrast of two divisions in the colloquium participants. The “elderly” ones seem to agree to every point against the “young” ones. The elderly ones stress the importance of traditions, conceptual frameworks and the proper grounding of roots, values and motivations. The younger ones, on the other hand, accentuate the value of the process, creativity and signs of the times. There were some heated arguments, but I am glad the colloquium had provided as a venue to communicate.
REST
The Gospel also emphasizes the importance of REST. Jesus made the disciples to go to a remote place “by themselves” and “have some rest.” As we are subjected to the pressures of work and activities, we also balance all these with rest and recreation.
But the Gospel doesn’t just speak about physical rest. I was made to reflect the deeper reasons why I immerse myself to a lot of these activities. Why do I do all these? It’s a slap in the face to neglect that very reason. I found myself so plunged to the depths of responsibilities that I see myself detached from God.
A confrere celebrated his birthday last Friday and I was deeply impressed when he delivered his speech to the community. We often ridicule him for his tremendous piety. He wakes up 45 minutes to one hour ahead of us just to pray. Before he sleeps, he spends at least 30 minutes in the adoration chapel. He is very consistent. What really impresses me is the very witnessing he has been showing us. I could attest to that. Every time I see him, I could not but exclaim his kindness. He loves the Lord so much, and it is so contaminating that I was led to ask myself why can’t I love the Lord the same way.
Some of us compare him to St. Dominic Savio, but I would always associate him with Francis Besucco who at the point of death he told Don Bosco, “My only regret is that I haven’t loved the Lord much as He deserves.”
“Come to me all you who are weary… and I will give you rest.” [Matthew 1:28]
It is not only rest the Lord offers, He also offers His loving relationship. To be with him alone needs an allotment of time. Love is otherwise spelled as T-I-M-E.
RESPOND
This is very striking: “Jesus had compassion for them for they are a sheep without a shepherd.” This Gospel message is an invitation for me to respond.
Last Thursday, we went for our first day to teach catechism to two public schools. I was horrified when I find myself before 107 students in one classroom. I don’t know how to quantify the area of the classroom, but it is a classroom which is only good for 40 students. I am not exaggerating when I say we are like sardines in a can. How could one teacher handle such a big class? Second year students are unruly and talkative, competing with the noise just outside the classroom. I was starting to lose my patience so I gave them a gentle reprimand which is very improper especially for the first day of class. I found myself frustrated… not because of the students, but because of the system. How could quality education happen at this condition? I have got a list of people and institutions to blame for this… who are responsible for this. My heart goes for these students. They won’t come to school and endure this difficult condition if they don’t want to learn. I hope to explore more of this insight, soon.
The gospel is very fitting… we all have a share to responsibility. We just have to open our eyes and hearts to the reality that there are indeed “shepherdless sheeps.” How do I respond to these?
