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In Today’s Gospel from Mark, we learn that the apostles had returned from some mission activity and are updating Jesus on their experiences. What is immediately noteworthy is that Jesus’ first response is an invitation to get away and rest.

It seems to me that Jesus is talking about the value of rest. Jesus is a head of his time. Psychologists and other mental health professionals are increasingly recognizing the need for rest to prevent burnout. More and more I hear about Compassion fatigue, a component of burnout. Compassion fatigue is the cost of caring for others or for being exposed to their emotional pain.

It is important to recognize the signs of burnout and Compassion Fatigue.

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Jesus is sending his disciples to gain some missionary experiences. The first thing is that Jesus sends the disciples out two by two. I thought Jesus could have doubled his impact by sending them out alone. It becomes clear that Jesus is not concerned with numbers. He is making several teaching points about spirituality and faith that are helpful in deepening our faith. Jesus is making it clear that they are not to have anything to slow them down or get in the way.

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The Gospel Mark 6:1-6 is unusual, it seems that Jesus is returning to his hometown, likely to visit his family and friends. We don’t know if this visit occurred early in his mission work or towards the end. However, his family and friends have heard about his ministry, and they are not impressed. Jesus is understandably disappointed in their behavior and attitude.

Jesus did not always get support from his family. In Mk 3:21 we have the family of Jesus coming to get him because they believed he was “out of his mind”. In Matthew 12:46-50 we have Jesus’s family wanting to speak to him, but Jesus uses that experience to teach people about family. One cannot be too hard on his family. They were trying to protect him...from himself.

Families are important. It is in growing up within a family that we learn to love. How do you teach someone how to love? Only by loving them. How do you teach someone to trust? Only by being trustworthy. I suspect some people have difficulty with their faith because they have only experienced conditional love or have had their ability to trust bruised.

Families are not always easy. Even the members of the family of Jesus had to grow in their ability to be a healthy family.