A homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 18, 2021
Jer 23:1-6, Eph 2:13-18, Mk 6:30-34
In the movie “Hacksaw Ridge” — the brutal, bloody retelling of a critical battle in World War II’s Pacific Theater — Army medic Desmond Doss drags one wounded soldier after another to safety while flames and bullets rage around him.
Doss, a conscientious objector who volunteered to save lives on the front lines, prays for strength as he continues his mission all night.
“Just one more, Lord; just one more.”
It’s a true story.
Today’s Gospel tells another true story of just one more. And that’s the bigger miracle, a miracle Jesus performs every day in everyone’s lives today.
Jesus and his disciples were tired. They had shared bits of themselves for days, perhaps weeks, without a break. They took a deep breath, headed off to a quiet place, and expected to let down their hair for a couple of minutes. To rest and recharge. “Me time,” the way we all need it.
But the local people tracked them down and Jesus, moved with pity as Mark tells it, recognized their need for leadership and enlightenment. So instead of putting his feet up and chowing down with his crew, Jesus taught the people who found them and gave them the kind of guidance a shepherd gives his flock.
Now, we probably would say, “Of course. That’s what a messiah does.”
But even though Jesus is the son of God, he’s not Superman. Yes, absolutely: He’s divine, the Almighty dwelling among us. But in those First Century days in Galilee and beyond, he got blisters and splinters and rocks in his sandals, and he got hungry as any fully human person does.
So why did Jesus tend his figurative sheep?
Because they needed his love and inspiration. And that was enough motivation for Jesus to put his own needs second to theirs.
Nowadays, we are called upon to be Christ to one another, to care for the least among us, whomever we recognize as people in need, whatever needs they may have. That’s a huge challenge in itself.
Are we capable of tackling that challenge?
Can we see who is in need of our help, as we draw our strength from God Who Is Love? Can we realistically match our God-given talents and skills to the specifics of their needs?
With God’s help, the answer is yes. Each of us can be the Christ someone needs, be they family, friend, new acquaintance or person on the other side of the world. God will provide what we can and must deliver.
But what about the second part of this equation? Are we capable of tackling the challenge of being Christ for someone else when all we want to do is take five? Crash on the couch for a couple of minutes?
Isn’t that always when somebody else is most in need? It sure seems that way.
And yet, like our Good Shepherd, when we recognize that sometimes other people’s needs are greater than ours, then we channel a greater amount of love and bring the person in need — and ourselves — that much closer to our Creator.
And after that person, the next. And the next.
“Just one more, Lord; just one more.”
And the Lord will empower us.
Epilogue
Many years ago (my freshman year in college, if you must know), I was at a talent show fundraiser for a student-run summer enrichment program that benefited kids in town. As the baskets were being passed, the senior who chaired the program made her final pitch for generosity, and nearly 50 years later, I remember it vividly:
“Don’t give till it hurts. Give till it feels good.”
