God's Compassion Is Boundless

 Today's Scriptures, Hebrews 13: 15-17, 20-21, the responsorial psalm, Psalm 23, and the Gospel, Mark 6: 30-34, reveal to us a God full of compassion, kindness, and love; in short, a God who cares about us, knows our neediness, and responds generously. Paul says to us in Hebrews: God will "furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will." Paul then prays for us: "May [God] carry out in your what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and every. Amen."

That prayer does not go unanswered! God does, in fact, carry out in us what is pleasing to him and does, also, furnish us with all that is good! Why? So that we are empowered to do God's will, which is to engage in activities that are pleasing to him, and which respond, in love, to the needs of others and our own needs, as well!  If we fail to respect our personal needs, we will not be able to respond lovingly to the needs of others. Deprivation of personal needs for love, forgiveness, joy and peace--all that is good--depletes our ability to give these gifts to others. Jesus recognized that truth when He says to us:  Love the Lord, your God, with your whole soul and your neighbor as yourself.

How generous is God, a God who furnishes us with "all that is good."  Jesus is God and shows us the nature of God in today's gospel, Mark 6: 30-34. At the end of an exhausting day, Jesus says to his apostles: "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  He says the same to us when we are exhausted from a day's work or from years of pouring ourselves out to others in challenging ministries, without costing the cost! In fact, some of our Sisters who worked in our hospitals gave of themselves 24/7, taking on one shift after another when others were unable to come in to work because of a sick child or sick themselves.  "Come away and rest  by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile." Perhaps that is what God intends quarantine to be for those of us, temporarily, set apart from the rest of the community!

Following that exhausting day, Jesus and the apostles got into a boat and sailed off to a quiet place on the waters to get away from the crowds.  However, the crowd took note of the direction they were going and met them on the opposite shore. "When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,...and he began to teach them many things." The generosity, the kindness, the love, the compassion of our God knows no limits!