February 8 - Moved...with pity.
- Gary Fritsch
- Feb 8
- 2 min read
We can't help it. After all, people are all we know, and we often ascribe to God all of our human qualities. One of them is the concept of tiring. We can easily think to ourselves that God must be so tired of us by now. Not just humanity in general, but more importantly: US individually. He has to fed up with our continual lack of faith or understanding. I just don't want Him to see me commit that same sin one...more...time.
Unlike us, God always loves. He is never drawn away from doing good by some desire for His personal pleasure or comfort. He is love, He is goodness - so He must always be about those things.
Today we see Jesus welcoming back His apostles from their critical first mission without Him (well, not walking there with them). They are both tired and excited to share all that had happened. He knows they need time away to recall, and process and learn from all that has taken place. So Jesus provides an opportunity for that to happen on the boat, and then, when you think He might just want to gather with His friends and revel in all of the great things they have done in His name, it happens.
He is moved. For as many people as His apostles might have touched on their journeys, He sees there is so much work still to do. He has pity on those who are yearning for something. They are yearning so much that they might grab on to just about anything. He knows that only He can satisfy that longing - so He gets out of the boat and teaches them many things. He doesn't just give a cursory 'hello' and head back to His friends, nope. He sits down and discusses many things - He makes them friends as well.
God never tires of us. His heart is moved with pity for the suffering and difficulty we put ourselves through, but He is always willing to teach us, and there is always so much for us to learn. Like the crowd in today's Gospel, pursue Him where you know He can be found.
Comments