His heart was moved with pity for them

Heb 13,15-17.20-21; Ps 22; Mk 6,30-34
9 FEBRUARY

The compassion of Jesus is beyond all possible human compassion. His is a compassion for the assumption of all sins and all the guilt of humanity for their atonement and redemption. Jesus had compassion because he fulfilled our every debt to the Father. His compassion is thus announced by the prophet Isaiah.
See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him – so marred was his look beyond that of man, and his appearance beyond that of mortals – So shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; For those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it. Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, One of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, While we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth. Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, A grave was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, Though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood. (But the Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity.) If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the Lord shall be accomplished through him. Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, Because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; And he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses (Is 52,13-53,12)
It is compassion that has asked of Lord Jesus the supreme martyrdom of the cross. Today Jesus assumes of the crowd loss, confusion, spiritual solitude, abandonment to itself, lack of every guide and deprivation of all true spiritual nourishment. He lets the disciples to rest and he puts himself at the service of those who are searching for their spiritual truth. This is the greatest poverty even of the man of our time. He lacks in his truth and end of origin. He does not know where he is from and where he is headed. He is nourished by the poison of infinite false prophecies. He is dominated by error and lies.
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 he 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.
The true shepherd is sent by God, the Lord entrusts his flock to him, so that he leads it in this world of idolatry, falsehood, lie, immorality and vice, always preserving it in his truth, in his law, in his decrees, in his statutes, in his covenant and in his life. The pastor might do this if he keeps himself in God and in his will. If the pastor himself is abandoned to idolatry and immorality, the flock entrusted to him will necessarily be nourished with the poison he feeds on. If the shepherd wants to feed the flock of God, he must nourish himself with God. If he feeds on fairy tales, the flock will also feed on fables. What is Christ’s flock fed today?
Mother of God, Angels and Saints ensure that every pastor is nourished with Christ to nourish with Christ.