In the gospel this Sunday, Jesus and the disciples try to sneak away to a deserted place to rest, but the crowds came to know where Jesus was going and rushed ahead to meet them. Scripture says that a vast crowd had gathered. I can imagine Jesus and the disciples getting into a boat to get away while word of mouth spread of where they were heads. I can almost see the vast crowds of people pouring out of the towns and villages and gathering on the seashore, hungry to catch even a glimpse of Jesus.
When was the last time you rushed to be close to Jesus?
If it was this past Sunday when you rushed your family out of the house and rushed into the parking lot and rushed into Mass 5 minutes late – God bless you. Extra gold star points for getting to Church. Just getting the family to Mass on Sunday can be a miracle.
Many of us rush to meetings or the gym or dinner out or kids activities. However, when it comes to our faith we rarely show the same level of urgency. Rarely do we rush to confession when serious sin enters or life. Infrequent are the times we hurry to get prayer time started in the morning.
The other thing about the kind of rushing that occurs in the gospel is that nobody in the story planned on hearing Jesus teach. It was spontaneous. The people who rushed to be near Jesus stopped what they were doing, dropped whatever was going on, and rushed to go where Jesus was going in order to be near him.
Have you ever dropped everything to rush to Jesus? Do you think you could do that now? What would it look like to drop everything and rush to Jesus?
LIVE IT: Rush to see Jesus. Do something for your faith that is unplanned. Drop everything and stop by Church or the Adoration Chapel. Turn off the radio and pray for the entirety of a car ride. Take someone who is lonely out for coffee. Drop everything and go rush after Jesus.
HNOJ Good Word 