Jer 23:1-6 | Ps 23 | Eph 2:13-18 | Mk 6:30-34
After their AA meetings, Eric and his sponsor would go to a coffee shop to talk about how things were going for them in their recovery. In the course of their conversation, they would often share with each other how their Catholic faith helped support them in their sobriety.
One afternoon, Eric’s sponsor turned to him and asked, “Do you believe God cares for you?”
Eric was puzzled by the question and said, “Well, I guess so. I believe God loves me.”
His sponsor then asked again, “But do you believe He really cares for you?”
Eric asked him back, “What exactly are you getting at?”
His sponsor went on to explain that several years before, someone had asked him that same question. Like Eric, he said that he believed God loved him, but the question about whether he cared for him stuck with him. He thought about it a lot and brought it to prayer many times.
He explained to Eric that he came to understand that God’s love for him means that God cares for him at every moment of his life. It means that God provides for him when he is in need, that He protects him when he’s in trouble, and that He leads him home when he’s lost.
He further explained that knowing that God cared for him transformed his prayer life. Before, he would approach God with a list of requests, but now he begins prayer acknowledging God’s love for him. Sometimes, he spends his whole prayer time just basking in the love that God has for him.
Afterward, Eric’s sponsor turned to him again and asked, “So, do you believe that God cares for you? Don’t answer. Just think about it and bring it to your prayer.” Eric did think and pray about it. And the realization that God truly cares for him has made all the difference.
So, what about us? We who are gathered here today: do we believe that God not only loves us, but cares for us? Do we believe that He not only loves us from a distance but that He is involved in every detail of our life? Do we believe that God is attentive to us at every second of the day and night and that nothing happens to us without His either doing it or permitting it to happen? Do we believe that God is not only aware of us but that He is providing for us, protecting us, and guiding us?
Jesus’ care for people is on full display in today’s gospel. First, he cares for the disciples who came back from a missionary journey. They had been away teaching and performing miracles in Jesus’ name.
Jesus saw how tired they were and invited them to rest a while with him. Jesus’ care is also on display when he sees the vast crowd of people waiting for him at the shore. His heart goes out to them. Forgetting his own weariness, he comforts them with his presence and nourishes them with his word.
Can we believe that Jesus cares for us when we feel tired and overwhelmed? He says, “Come to me all who are weary and find life burdensome and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). Prayer is not just repeating words or asking God for things. It is also finding a quiet place to rest with Jesus. Just sitting with Jesus in a peaceful corner of our home, in nature, or in a quiet church can restore our spirits. When we come to Jesus confident that he cares for us, we allow him to soothe us with his consoling presence, to heal our wounds, and to lift us up. We get the sense that we are not carrying our burden alone but that he is with us every step of the way, giving us strength.
As Eric’s sponsor explained and as he himself experienced, believing that Jesus truly cares for us makes all the difference. It transforms our prayer life. Our focus is no longer on us, on our frailty, and on our limitations but on God, God’s love, and His immense power to save. We face the trials of life with more confidence and assurance knowing that they are opportunities for us to experience the loving presence of God who cares for us. When we understand how much God cares for us, we then begin to see the people around us differently. They are also cared for by God. We see them no longer as strangers but as brothers and sisters. We begin to care for others after the example of the God who cares for us. We want to extend to others the generosity and compassion that Jesus has shown us.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” She was a woman who was supremely aware of God’s love for her, so much so that she could not help but share it with others. Her experience of God’s care for her made her see everyone as her brother and sister no matter their nationality, religion, or color. She wanted others to know how much God loved and cared for them, especially those who were destitute and felt abandoned.
That’s our calling: both to believe in our hearts that we are loved by God and to show others that they are also loved by caring for them. If we could all do that, we would finally have peace on earth.
The Lord is our shepherd. He provides for us in our wants. He nourishes us in our need. He tends to our wounds and heals us. He guides us when we are walking in dark places and protects us when the wolf is at our door. He celebrates when we succeed and delights in all we are able to accomplish. If we surrender ourselves to His loving care, He promises to bless us with goodness and kindness.
In this sacred space, He spreads a banquet before us - the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Nourished and strengthened by His love, let us leave this place determined to share that love with everyone we encounter in the week ahead!