16th Ordinary Sunday of the Year - B

Are you busy?

We are made very aware these days of the need for privacy. Pararazzi versus celebrities. Newly famous people telling us what hell it is not being able to walk the dog, or buy a newspaper without it turning into another crowd scene. It is tempting to see Jesus in this light.

But Jesus never sought after privacy. He often withdrew from the crowd, in fact seemed to need to withdraw from them - not to be by himself, but to be with his Father. It was a love of prayer that drew him to lonely places, not his demand for privacy.

As soon as he finds the crowds waiting for him, he melts. He does not see them as an intolerable nuisance, he sees them as ‘sheep without a shepherd’ and he supplies them with what they need most urgently. He teaches them the truth about God and his Kingdom. (Later he will feed them with bread and fish too, but for now he offers them Truth).

Prayer is how we learn to do God’s will. We ask, we wait, we see, we accept, we praise. For Jesus, whether it was in prayer, or in serving the people, he was wholehearted about his love for doing what his Father wanted. Without prayer, we end up doing our own will, and looking for space and freedom to do it. We begrudge service of anyone but ourselves, and all our peace is lost. So before we turn to charitable work, let us turn to prayer, in order to know why we do it. “In his will is our peace” (Ephesians)

Mother Theresa of Calcutta, well used to crowds, insisted on her sisters spending an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament each day, before work. “If they do not see the poor in Christ, how will they see Christ in the poor?” she would ask. It is food for thought.

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