Memorial of Saint Josephine Bakhita

Lectionary: 328

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.

Arbeit macht frei.  "Work sets you free!" greeted the prisoners as they arrived at Auschwitz. Although we remember this German motto with horror, realizing the menace within the camp and the suffering; we believe it anyway. Many of us were taught to avoid idleness with its companion boredom at all costs. 

"Don't just sit there; do something!" may be the response to panic but more often it's a rallying cry at any free moment. 

Saint Mark has described the amazing success of Jesus' first appearance in Galilee. People flocked to him from far and near by the hundreds and thousands. In response he travelled widely and sent his disciples on healing missions to farther places. Upon their return, they reported "all they had done" with genuine satisfaction. There was an enormous demand for their ministry and they were supplying it. 

Perhaps they didn't even notice their physical exhaustion as they shared their experiences with one another. If they felt at all weary they were nonetheless eager to return to the field and do more good works in the name of Jesus. 

But the Lord wisely led them to a quiet place where they could rest, where they could feel the weariness in their flesh and bones without the stimulation of the eager crowds. 

Or that was the plan until the crowds tracked them down. Jesus pitied them for they were like sheep without a shepherd and "he began to teach them many things."

In this twenty-first century it's not hard to imagine the weariness of the disciples and the pathetic condition of the people. As disciples we recognize an enormous need for the Word of God and we wear ourselves out announcing it -- often to a half-empty church. The need is there, if not the demand.

Meanwhile the people are driven to desperation by the advertising apparatus of radio, television, and Internet. Some people have a television in every room, and they're on continually. Many hospital patients cannot sleep without the chatter of the television. Some suffer FOMA, the fear of missing out. They want to know everything that's happening in the family, neighborhood and church. Others intentionally ignore what is happening around them, even as they obsess about the news from Washington DC. But most have OD'd a long time ago on the "news;" they're content to zone out with sports, sitcoms, and screaming game shows. "But don't turn the TV off!" 

(I haven't been in surgery lately. I wonder if they have it on in there.) 

"Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." Jesus commanded. 

He and his people needed a Sabbath rest and a Sabbath place. 

Many Catholics make an annual retreat to a shrine or retreat house in obedience to Jesus' direction. If they succeed in turning off their smartphones, they often enjoy an extended period of quiet availability to prayer. Their prayers shift from "God help me!" to "Thank you, Lord. You are so beautiful." Many return to the same place year after year, and eventually develop a facility for resting a while in a deserted place. 

Some fortunate people have space in their homes to dedicate a room or corner of a room to prayer. A rug might mark the spot, and a sacred statue the direction. 

The Lord delivered the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt. On this memorial day of Saint Bakhita, who was captured and sold as a slave when she was eight years old, we ask God to deliver us  from slavery in its many twenty-first century forms.