In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus inviting his disciples to go with him to a quiet place, to rest and have some quiet time together. But the crowds had gone ahead of them. Jesus took pity on them because they were “like sheep without a shepherd”. They needed to be taught, and they needed to be fed, and Jesus did both, and his feeding was for both body and spirit.
We, too, are called to be shepherds. We are called to teach, to heal and to feed, but to do this effectively, we also need to set aside time to pray, reflect and renew our life vision. As shepherds, we have a message to convey – the same message that Jesus brought – the Good News – about making the Kingdom a reality in our world. Only in this way will the peace of Christ reign in our hearts, in our society, and in our Church.