Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark describes the return of the disciples from their first ministry tour — their inauguration into apostleship.  Exhilarated and exhausted, they have stories to tell Jesus — thrilling stories of healings, exorcisms, and effective evangelistic campaigns.  Perhaps there are darker stories in the mix as well — stories of failure, fear and rejection.  

Two thoughts or questions come to mind:

Have you ever made plans for your life?  Have your plans ever been interrupted?

Jesus says to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile.”  

He’s made plans and has some expectations of what will happen. Or so he thought. His plans, however, are interrupted by the many people who run ahead to meet him. There is no quiet and there is no rest. There is only the great crowd of people, lost like sheep without a shepherd, interrupting what he had planned.

Hasn’t that happened to you? The circumstances may be different, but we all know what it’s like to have life interrupted.

It’s the baby waking up early from what you thought would be a quiet hour, or a day that had nothing on the calendar that turns into a day of one thing after another. It’s taking a new job and finding that you are not doing what you planned, and you are doing what you never expected. It’s the diagnosis that interrupts retirement plans. It’s a shattered dream, a separation, a death. Our life plans get interrupted in a thousand different ways and the unexpected happens all along the way of life.

When our life plans are interrupted it’s easy and tempting to work even harder to make it happen, reinforce our boundaries, blame others, rage about things not working out, or pray that God will make it all go the way we want. Jesus doesn’t do any of that. He doesn’t turn the boat around when he sees the crowd. He doesn’t get angry or resentful. He doesn’t blame or complain. He doesn’t ignore or deny the interruption. He’s simply present to what is.

Everyday life is where God shows up. It teaches patience and offers opportunities to soften our hearts and act with compassion. It invites us into the mystery of creation. How we relate to another mirrors our relationship to God. We learn to forgive. We practice faithfulness and hope amidst the uncertainty of life.

That’s not to take anything away from prayer, study, outreach, charitable giving, going to church, or any of the other things we might think of as our spiritual practices. It’s to recognise that all those are about being in relationship and living everyday life. That means that we must learn to see more deeply and be more present to whatever is, whether planned or unexpected, desired, or unwanted.

Faithfulness is about being as intentional and caring toward the interruptions as we are to our plans. Isn’t that how Jesus lived? That’s what we see in today’s gospel.

All along the way Jesus is present and faithful to whatever and whoever is before him, whether planned or unexpected. That’s not just about tending to the lives of others. That’s also how we tend to our own lives. That’s how Jesus tended to his life. He knows the spirit of God “blows where it chooses” (John 3:8 ). That means we are always to be discerning the movement of the spirit in our lives in plans and interruptions alike.

(Prayer): God, you are always greater than we dare to expect.

You do new and unheard things.

When the world crumbles around us, you make a new creation.

Make us attentive to your action in these times, that we may not stand still to stare at the things of the past,

and not seek you where you are not to be found.

Go ahead of us, you who are our future.

Help us to seek new ways to you and to one another and to hold on to each other in all our uncertainties.

Give us the firm assurance that your power is still active today and that you keep renewing the world. Amen.

‍