On Saturday morning I got up and took to clearing out the front hedge from Ivy that had taken over. Well, it was a determined effort. By 2 pm I was tired and called it a day, having cleared half the hedge. I grabbed a coffee and was reading Sunday’s gospel Mark 6:30-34, 53-end. It reminded me of my own day of zeal and determination.
We read that both Jesus and the Twelve Apostles had been working very hard. The Twelve had been out on mission to many of the neighbouring towns preaching, healing the sick, and casting out demons. They returned to Jesus and reported all that they had done. Jesus, in turn, invited them to “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” But the crowds heard about their departure by boat and quickly went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee so that they would arrive before Jesus and the Twelve.
A helpful point to ponder in this passage is that the people who gathered were described as a “great crowd.” From the subsequent passage in Mark’s Gospel, we learn that when Jesus finished teaching them many things, He performed the miracle of the multiplication of fish and bread and fed 5,000 men, not counting the women and children. Given the fact that the estimated ratio at that time of adult men to women and children was at least 5:1, the crowd could have been as large as 25,000 people. For a spontaneous gathering of people in a remote area by the Sea of Galilee, that is a huge number. This is especially the case since it is estimated that only about 1,500 people were living in Capernaum at that time. People had flocked to our Lord from very far away.
This vast and spontaneous gathering reveals to us the hunger that Jesus instilled in the hearts of very many people. Some of these people had already heard Jesus speak and had witnessed His miracles. Others were those to whom the Twelve had just preached in the surrounding villages. The Twelve had spoken clearly and convincingly by the power of the Holy Spirit about Jesus, and many people responded, wanting to know more about our Lord.
As you ponder the enthusiasm of so many people, try to compare that with your enthusiasm for Jesus. Are you driven to seek Him out with the same passion and zeal that consumed these first followers? Or do you find that your zeal and enthusiasm are lacking at times? This great crowd, with their zeal and determination to seek out our Lord, should be a source of inspiration and self-examination for us all.
Reflect, today, upon this great crowd. Try to see yourself joining them. Ponder yourself being so moved by the preaching of the Apostles that you become single-focused in your determination to be fed by Jesus’ holy teaching. If it is hard to imagine yourself acting this way, then humbly acknowledge that you may need more zeal for Jesus in your life. Pray that these holy desires become stirred up within you and do all that you can to foster such zeal.
Have a blessed week ahead.
Father Paul.