Mark 6:30-34

The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. Then he
said to them, "You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves
and rest for a while"; for there were so many coming and going that the
apostles had not time even to eat. So they went off in a boat to a lonely place
where they could be by themselves. But people saw them going; and many could
guess where; and from every town they all hurried to the place on foot and
reached it before them. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he
took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set
himself to teach them at some length.
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Getting Intimate with the Lord
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Today's gospel reading reminds me of the lives of some of our priests in the
parish. Many of them are so busy that they don't have time to themselves, to
eat, to pray, to have time for recreation, all of which are very important for
them to have in order to be able to minister to us fully. It also reminds me of
the lives of some lay Catholics and religious, who are also so busy ministering
to people that they don't have time for what is necessary to make them good
ministers.

One of the most important elements of being a good minister to others is the
element of prayer. Prayer is an intimate conversation between us and God. As
you can imagine, intimacy is shared between two people. Even a third person's
presence makes any kind of intimacy difficult to obtain. Hence, such intimacy
surely isn't obtained with one's weekly Mass, or even attending daily Mass.

It is good to worship the Lord in a large group, but in order to have real
intimacy with the Lord, it is necessary, as Jesus says, to "come away to
some lonely place all by yourselves to rest for a while". Such
"rest" and such "prayer" might not involve kneeling or
sitting before the Blessed Sacrament for hours.

Intimacy between couples is achieved through any activity that is shared between
the two of them. It does not necessarily have to involve quiet conversation.
Intimacy can be shared in activity, so long as it is exclusively shared between
the two people. So it is the same with our intimacy with the Lord. We can have
our intimate conversation with God anywhere - taking a walk in parks, sitting
beside the sea, while gardening, or even sitting in the toilet!

As Catholics in Singapore, or in most city areas, we are often too fixated with
doing things. Doing things is a sign to ourselves that we are making
achievements, which is our cultural standard for progress. But progress in
intimacy with the Lord does not consist of having achieved great things in
ministry. It simply consists of having time to spend in quiet intimacy with the
Lord. And, if it is the Lord's desire, he will call us to minister to those who
are lost, without a shepherd.

One of our worries is that when we take time for ourselves to go and pray, or
take time for recreation, our poor, lost sheep will have no one to turn to. But
relax, because Jesus the Good Shepherd will tend to them himself, just as he
did so in today's gospel reading when his disciples were all tired out.

So trust in Jesus to take care of your sheep while you rest and pray.
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Prayer:
Dear Jesus, we pray for all those in active ministry, that they may remember to
take time to spend with you alone in intimate prayer. We also pray for all
those already spending time in intimate prayer, that they may remember to be
missionary-minded, reaching out to those who are in need of your presence
through them. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: The contemplatives who remind us of the importance
of prayer in our busy society.