Leave Jesus out in the open where he belongs

Today's first reading is from the Genesis 1:1-19 giving us the story of creation. Although it was written a very long time after the ongoing event of the beginning of all, it is a book of faith for us today. The first truth is that God created everything; water and earth, light and darkness, sun and moon, animals, plants and all of us. Our world, our life comes from God and he has a plan for us. The second great teaching is that God saw that all that he created was good. It was created for our enjoyment and so we must care for and protect the earth, our only home. There is a similar lesson in today's gospel from Mark 6:53-56. At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth where he is rejected by the people of his home town. From then on in Mark's gospel, he does not enter a synagogue again. All his teaching is done is the open air, besides the lake, in the countryside. Today we hear that wherever he went to village, town or farm, the people flocked to him and laid down the sick in the open spaces. While it is important for us to gather in community where we hear the Word and share the bread of life, we are called to bring Jesus into the reality of the life of home, school, work and the outdoors. One day a church was battered by a strong earthquake and was destroyed but a large statue of Jesus remained intact exposed to sun, rain and wind. A priest decided to rebuild the church but that night Jesus appeared to him in a dream and said, ''Don't hide me away in the church again. Leave me out here in the reality, where I belong.' Help us, Lord, to find you in all places because everything around us has been created by you.