Read the full version at www.usccb.org/endoflifecare.

Let’s not be too hasty in defining who is “the wicked one” and who (namely us) is just! We are very quick to label others as evil, because we tend to label ourselves as good guys. We don’t like it when we are brought up short by a prophetic voice that brings us some bad news about our own behavior. We don’t like to be reproached for transgressions of the law or charged with violations of our training.

The core of the Eucharist never changes. The Mass is Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. The bishops at the Second Vatican Council brought together these three mysteries in a description of the Mass recalling the Last Supper, the sacrifice of the cross, and Easter Sunday.

From time to time, newspapers and magazines will offer, as an item of “filler,” various laws that are still on the books but seem silly to us in our day and age. In one California city, it is illegal to have two indoor bathtubs in one house. Clean water, a precious commodity when the law was written, is now readily available, so the law seems silly. But the human value of protecting and preserving precious resources is still around, evident in many conservation laws that seem sensible to us.

In the ancient world, “household” was a wide-reaching concept. When Joshua today speaks of his household serving the Lord, he meant not just those people who lived inside his walls or those related to him by blood or marriage; he meant slaves or servants and their families, and anyone indebted to him in any way. Even his livestock and other possessions would be consecrated to service of God.

Some things about human nature don’t change, even over the course of centuries. When we celebrate a holiday, we have a meal; when we celebrate a significant event, we have a feast. In today’s first reading, Lady Wisdom is setting a feast, a sign of celebrating the covenant that Israel has with God. Israel’s central remembrance of its saving Exodus covenant is the Passover meal.

We are so busy! Most of us have more than one job to do, and we never seem to have enough time. We are workers, volunteers, parents, friends, and most of us are more than one thing at a time. But which of these is the work of God?

This week marks the beginning of a kind of “liturgical detour.” We have been listening to Saint Mark’s Gospel during this liturgical year (Year B). Today we begin to hear a long section from John’s Gospel, starting with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. This miracle story is a prelude to the Lord’s statements that we will begin hearing in a few weeks, in which Jesus refers to himself as the “bread of life.”

For several weeks we have listened to readings that have recounted just how arduous the work of prophets and disciples can be. In today’s Gospel, the Lord Jesus listens to the reports of those he had sent out “two by two” to minister to the people. After the apostles reported what they had done, Jesus, recognizing their fatigue, says, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31).

The prophet Ezekiel, Saint Paul, and the Lord Jesus share something in common in today’s scripture readings. They all experience obstacles to their ministry. Ezekiel is summoned to prophesy to the Israelites, who are “hard of face and obstinate of heart” (Ezekiel 2:4). Saint Paul recounts how he has been given a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). The Lord Jesus is unable to perform many signs in his native place. The Gospel tells us that “[he] was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mark 6:6).

Today we encounter readings that draw us into the mystery of suffering and death. In the past few years we have witnessed the devastation of life and property through earthquakes and hurricanes. So many lifted their lament to God, simply asking, “Why?” This is an honest expression of anger toward a God who we believe is the giver of life.