“Being filled with Wisdom, let us be a true shepherd – reaching out to the needs of others – according to the Heart of the Good Shepherd!”

(Based on 1 Kgs 3:4-13 and Mk 6:30-34 – Saturday of the 4th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

There is a story of a village struck by a long drought.

After weeks of suffering, a large truck of charitable help, finally arrived…
… full of food aid.
People ran out of their homes.
Lines were formed.
Lists were checked.
Numbers were counted.
Everything was done efficiently.
Each family received exactly what was needed.

It seemed that the situation was managed well.

But as evening came, something disturbing appeared.
A volunteer noticed a few people – mostly the elderly…
…. sitting alone outside their huts.
The food packets were still unopened.

Curious, the volunteer asked one man,
“Why haven’t you eaten?”

The man looked up and said softly:
“They counted the number of people in my house…
… but no one asked how my heart was!”

The hunger of the stomach was counted.

The hunger of the heart was forgotten.

Hunger for love…
Hunger for being wanted…
Hunger on emotional counts…
Hunger of the spiritual order…

These aspects of hunger…
… may never have a scientific statistic
… may never have flowcharts and pie diagrams to measure them
But these areas of hunger are a great reality and challenge, especially in our world today!

The Gospel of the Day presents Jesus who addresses not just “statistical” hunger but also such hunger of human needs which “may never get numerically counted”…
… with an invitation to always “hunger for God and to serve His people!”
“When He disembarked and saw the vast crowd, His Heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things” (Mk 6:34)

The Apostles, who were sent on the mission (Mk 6:7-13) had returned back and reported all that they had done (Mk 6:30)
They had driven out many demons…
They had anointed many with oil who were sick and cured them… (Mk 6:13)

They would have been satisfied with their works, but they did not have even the time to eat (Mk 6:31)

The Apostles had done many works, but Jesus sensed that they were tired

And so the Good Shepherd invites them to come away to a deserted place and rest (Mk 6:31)

Like these Apostles, many times, this can be our case too…

We may be doing a lot of things…
… but are we still feeling spiritually tired?
We may be happy with what we are doing…
… but are we still hungry deep within?

The Good Shepherd invites us…
… to take some rest in Him
… to relax in His Holy Heart

As in the case of the Apostles, so is the case of the people…

The people had seen many miracles, but Jesus sensed that they were still not truly filled

And so the Good Shepherd, with a moved Heart, feels compassion on them (Mk 6:34)

Like the people, many times this can be our case too…

We may have witnessed God’s wonders…
… but are we still spiritually found wanting?
We may be glad to doing the minimum in our spiritual life…
… but are we still missing something?

The Good Shepherd encourages us…
… with His Divine Word
… by His Compassionate Love

There is indeed a great hunger in the world.

Saint Mother Teresa said: “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty, than the person who has nothing to eat”

We may be people who hunger for love and acceptance…

Let us go to Jesus, the Supreme Lover of our lives

We may be people dejected and depressed in life…

Let us go to Jesus, the Ultimate Happiness of our lives

We may be people feeling unlucky and ill-fated in life…

Let us go to Jesus, the Absolute Destiny of our lives

In turn, we also meet people who are “hungry”…
… for love, for acceptance, for encouragement, for hope, for basics of life etc

Do I recognise, in the first place, such requirements of needy people?
Does my heart move in loving compassion for them?

Can I be a Good Shepherd, like Jesus, to them?

Let’s pray like Solomon, who asked the Lord, not for “long life, or riches or the life of enemies” (Cf. 1 Kgs 3:11)…
… but for Wisdom!

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and everything else will be given to you!” (Mt 6:33)

Let us be filled with His Wisdom…
… and making our hearts “a rich garden of virtues,” let us be a true shepherd according to the Heart of the Good Shepherd!

God Bless! Live Jesus!