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Today’s readings invite us to reflect on the meaning of Jesus as our shepherd. The image of sheep and shepherd is not one to which we can readily relate. But most of us can relate to the apostles who don’t even have time to eat! Don’t we all, at times, long for someone to encourage us to come away and rest for a while? It is understandable why Psalm 23, today’s psalm, is so well loved.
Today’s Gospel calls us to focus our attention on the heart of Jesus. Faced with a vast crowd, we likely would not respond as Jesus did. Many of us would have turned the boat around to avoid all that human neediness. But, in truth, we too are often like that crowd, waiting for a leader whose vision and teaching about life we can trust. We all search for real answers to the challenges in our lives and have been disappointed by human leaders from all walks of life.
In the end, it is only when we take the risk to surrender to the compassion and love of Jesus as our shepherd that we will find rest, joy and peace for our hearts. This will give us the motivation to respond more generously, as did Jesus, to the needs of others around us.