A pastor is called to attend to his dying parishioner, a notorious criminal who couldn’t care less about the things of God or his spiritual life. The pastor arrives and is surprised to see the dying man frantically turning the pages of a big Bible. Supposing he could be of help, he asked, “What are you searching for?” And the dying man coldly replies, “Loopholes.” Today’s gospel is a good one for those who read the Bible looking for loopholes. It gives us two apparently contradictory images of Jesus. First we have the image of Jesus as a man of firm, uncompromising, and even insensitive personality who turns his back on a needy and helpless crowd of people who need his help and takes off on a break once it was time for a break. Then we have the image of Jesus as a caring, empathetic and compassionate man who calls off his well-deserved rest to attend to a noisy crowd of clients who are bugging him when they should not. So, is Jesus a stern and inflexible man of principle and discipline who sticks to his program come what may or is he a considerate and receptive person disposed to change his plan according to the needs of the moment? The average reader of the Bible faced with this dilemma is likely to see in Jesus the character that best suits his or her own personality. Staunch disciplinarians tend to see in Jesus a staunch disciplinarian and kindhearted philanthropists tend to see in him a kindhearted philanthropist. Is the Bible then a mirror in which the reader only sees the reflection of his or her own face? Is the Bible there only to provide a justification for our chosen prejudices and lifestyles? If so, then we are no better than the dying criminal searching the scriptures for loopholes. Fact is, the Bible is there in some way to affirm us and in some way to challenge us. If we read the Bible expecting the word of God to challenge our prevailing lifestyle, then it is easy for us to see that what shines out in today’s gospel is nothing but the image of Jesus as the compassionate one. “As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to te ach them many things” (Mark 6:34). Even though Jesus has come here for a much needed retreat with his disciples, even though the people have no right to invade his privacy in this manner, still he is able to look at their weary faces, see their need, change his program, and respond to their need. Of course he is entitled to his rest, of course the people have no right to bug him in this manner. But Jesus is not interested in asserting his rights. He knows the people are bugging him out of desperation. And he sets himself to diagnose and treat the cause of such desperate behaviour. How would you and I respond in a similar situation? We would probably berate the crowd, accusing them of insensitivity. We would send the disciples to drive them away and if necessary bring in the law enforcement agencies. We would become angry and critical of the people rather than try to understand them. But compassion is putting oneself in the other person’s position and trying to see things the way the other person sees them. Compassion is the Mohawk proverb that says, “Do not criticise your neighbour until you have walked a mile in his moccasin.” So, if Jesus is so compassionate why then did he try to get away from the crowd initially? Even that action could be seen as an act of compassion not for the crowd but for the disciples who certainly needed a rest. “He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while’. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat” (verse 31). The former decision was motivated by compassion for the disciples, the latter by compassion for the people. None of it was motivated by self-interest. It was compassion through and through. Today let us ask Jesus to give us his spirit of compassion so that we can be as sensitive and responsive to the needs of people around us as he was. And let us be prepared to live lives of compassion whether it calls for a change in our plans for the summer or in our plans for the rest of our lives.