This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. It seems as though Jesus and the apostles have attracted a large crowd of people. The short lake voyage, back to the old familiar surroundings of the sea, after tramping the dusty roads, must in itself have been a rest and relaxation for the Galilean fishermen. But the small size of the Sea of Galilee made it quite possible for the crowds, traveling along the shore, to outdistance the little ship, which probably did not have favorable wind. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Jesus invited them to a deserted/wilderness place to anapausasthe (rest, remain quiet, cease). It is noteworthy that Mark twice notes that the place of rest is in the wilderness, apart from the crowds of people. The word eremos most literally refers to an uninhabited place in contrast to polis = “a populated place,” “city,” “town.” While sparseness of people and vegetation often go together in the Middle East, e.g., a desert region; this word centers more on the lack of population than the lack of vegetation. Note that in v.39 the crowd sits down on the green grass. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. At the conclusion of their mission to the Galilean villages the disciples returned to Jesus. He had commissioned them to be his emissaries (Ch. 6:7–13), and it is appropriate to this circumstance that they should report to him how they had fulfilled their commission.

30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. 32 So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

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This coming Sunday is the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle B. The sequence of Gospel texts in this part of Ordinary Time serves as a reminder we are not simply moving from chapter to chapter, story to story in the Gospel according to Mark. Consider the sequence of passages assigned to these summer Sundays (in juxtaposition with all the verses of Mark): Continue reading →