Mark returns to his narrative of the mission of the Apostles which he intercalated with the death of John the Baptist. The Apostles return to Jesus and report all they have done and taught. In order to have a leisurely meal, to have some rest, and to renew the bonds among his disciples, Jesus invites them to go “to a deserted place” (v 31). This is basically an uninhabited place with a very small population, where Jesus and his disciples can have more “privacy”—“far from the madding crowd”—away from people who come and go, and people who are looking for Jesus.

The Apostles need to recover their physical and spiritual energies so that they may be ready for future initiatives. In fact, they soon find out that there are people out there looking for them and their Master, like sheep in need of shepherds.

Jesus invites his disciples to rest a bit with him on their own. Pope Francis shares what this entails for us: “It is not only physical rest, but also rest for the heart. For it is not enough to ‘unplug’ ourselves, we need to truly rest. And how do we do this? To do so, we must return to the heart of things: to stop, to remain in silence, to pray so as not to go from the frenzy of work to the frenzy of times of relaxation. Jesus did not neglect the needs of the crowd, but each day, before anything else, he would withdraw in prayer, in silence, in intimacy with the Father. His tender invitation—rest a while— should accompany us. Let us beware, brothers and sisters, of efficiency, let us put a halt to the frantic running around dictated by our agendas. Let us learn how to take a break, to turn off the mobile phone, to contemplate nature, to regenerate ourselves in dialogue with God.”

“Lord, teach me your statutes.”

The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.