A People without a Shepherd

Gospel Reflection for Tuesday, Jan. 6th, 2026 - Mark 6:34-44

In the new year we hear all the ways that we can fulfill ourselves, physically, mentally and spiritually. Read these books, eat that diet, travel to these destinations, work out in this way. All the ways we can rely just on ourselves to improve ourselves, for our own benefit.

In and of themselves these are not bad things to do, to get healthier, to see the world, to challenge our mind with other’s written words. Yet in the scramble to become the best versions of ourselves we can often lose sight of something powerful and undeniable to our very human nature - God’s sufficiency.

In today’s gospel we see Jesus before a crowd of thousands and His heart was moved. He saw these people desperate for the truth, and despite the hunger, and the distance, there they stood. The gospel describes them as a people without a shepherd. If we know anything of shepherds, we know they care for the flock, they tend to their wounds, ensure they have enough of their fill to eat, and even sleep across the doorway of the sheepfold, acting as guardian and gateway.

These people had none of that, and yet they stood hanging on Jesus’ many words as He taught them.

Friends, I find myself reflecting on the fact that God is enough. The people in this crowd witnessed a miracle - the feeding of the 5,000. It is a beautiful scene of temporal needs being met. Yet I look at my life, and I wonder, do I hang on His every word when I am inconvenienced with hunger, or work, or children’s needs? Do I find that I am relying on myself more than on the provisions of God, who took on flesh, became man and died for me? If Jesus was moved to compassion and was willing to feed the 5,000 that stood before Him, how much more is He willing to provide for us today?

So while you’re setting resolutions, marking your calendar, adding books to your TBR list, and getting back into the routine of life, I invite you to remember that these are all good things but that God is enough and He must be the ends we ultimately seek, to quench our hunger for the truth. And Jesus being the Good Shepherd will meet us in our need.

When Jesus 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.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.”
He said to them in reply,
“Give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?”
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they had found out they said,
“Five loaves and two fish.”
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.