Mark 6:53-56

Genesis 1:1-19

Psalm 104:1-2a, 5-6, 10, 12, 24, 35c

Mark 6:53-56

After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,

Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret

and tied up there.

As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.

They scurried about the surrounding country    

and began to bring in the sick on mats

to wherever they heard he was.

Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,

they laid the sick in the marketplaces

and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;

and as many as touched it were healed.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, Creator of all things, send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. Help me to recognize my need so that I may reach out to you and your Son to be healed. I want to center my life and work totally on you and serve my brothers and sisters as best as I can.

Encountering the Word of God

1. People Immediately Recognized Him: Much of the Gospel of Mark takes place in the villages and towns around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus has just demonstrated his divine power to his disciples by feeding the five thousand (Mark 6:34-44) and by walking on the water as his disciples struggled during the night to go toward Bethsaida. From John’s Gospel we know that the disciples were specifically going to Capernaum (John 6:16), which was about six miles west of Bethsaida. It is curious that Jesus doesn’t bring his disciples to Capernaum, but rather lands them safely at Gennesaret, a village three miles south of Capernaum. By avoiding Capernaum, Jesus was likely avoiding the crowds who wanted to take him by force and make him king (John 6:15). In Gennesaret, the people immediately recognize Jesus and, instead of trying to make him king, bring the sick among them to be healed by him.

2. The Tassel on His Cloak: Earlier, the woman with a hemorrhage was healed by touching Jesus’ garment. It was her faith in Jesus that made her well. Here, Mark speaks about people touching the blue tassels or fringes that Jesus wore on the four corners of his cloak. These tassels were commanded in the Law of Moses and were a reminder to keep God’s commandments and be holy (Numbers 15:37-40; Deuteronomy 22:12). By wearing the tassels, “Jesus is the model of faithfulness to the covenant, who perfectly fulfills the Father’s commands. All who touched [the tassel on Jesus’ garments] were healed – not because of any magical power in the tassel itself, but because of their faith in him who wore it. Here, as often in Mark’s healing narratives (Mark 5:23, 34; 10:52), physical healing is an anticipatory sign of salvation in the full sense, since the same verb, sozo, can be translated ‘heal’ or ‘save’” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 133).

3. The Purpose of Creation: For the next two weeks, the First Reading will be taken from Genesis 1-11. The opening chapter of Genesis does not attempt a scientific explanation of how the universe developed but is a revelation about the truth and purpose of creation. The seven days of creation indicate that the universe is a temple fashioned by God. Just as a temple is a sacred place where God can be worshipped, the entire universe is a place where human beings can enter into communion with God the Creator and worship him. The opening lines of Genesis indicate that the earth that God created was, for a time, formless (tohu) and empty (bohu). The first three days of creation provide the structural form, realms, and order to the world. The second set of three days fill the realms created on the first three days. On the first day, the form or realm of time was created with the separation of light (day) from darkness (night). And on the fourth day, the two realms of day and night were filled with their rulers: the sun to rule the day; the moon and stars to rule the night. On the second day, the realm of space was created. And on the fifth day, the two realms of the sky and sea were filled with their rulers: the birds to rule the sky and the fish and sea creatures to rule the waters. On the third day, the realm of the earth (matter, so to speak) was created. And on the sixth day, the realm of earth was filled with its rulers: animals and, above the all the other animals, human beings.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are all holy, faithful, and merciful. You are the eternal Word through whom God the Father created the world. You have recreated the world through your passion, death, and resurrection. Pour out your Spirit within me to sanctify and bring to perfection what you have recreated.

Living the Word of God: How do I contemplate the world around me? Does the beauty of creation elevate my mind and heart to God in prayers of praise? Am I a good steward of the creation that has been entrusted to me?