This is a favorite picture of mine. I’ve used it numerous times in the ten years I have written for A Catholic Moment. I love the expression of joy on Jesus’ face as he carries a lamb on his shoulder. Is this the hundredth lamb he left the ninety-nine to search for? Or is this one who pleases him every day by resting where he leads it?
Does it matter which? To the lamb, it matters. If it is that missing hundredth sheep, being found and carried home by Jesus was likely a matter of life or death. If it is a lamb that stays close to him, it would still be a matter of the security of being cared for. Doubtless, to both sheep, that shoulder ride would be a ride of joy.
Does it matter to Jesus? Yes, because he loves both. Jesus, the good shepherd, loves and cares for them both. Today’s psalm includes the words, “with your rod and your staff.” In Biblical times, a shepherd’s rod was to protect sheep from predators. His staff was to protect sheep from themselves. He could pull it out of a hole. He could turn it over if it was stuck lying on its back. It could pull a sheep to go in the shepherd’s direction.
Today’s readings are about what good shepherds do and why. They are readings that help us consider what we see and hear from priests and other leaders of the flock of 21st century sheep. And the are readings for any of us who have authority over another (including everything from parents over their children to national leaders over their nations) to evaluate how we care for those under our care.
Jeremiah 23:1-6
If you want to hear some very sobering words, read Jeremiah 21 and 22, the chapters right before today’s reading. In them Jeremiah predicts the fall of Jerusalem, the fate of her kings and people, and many reasons why. Generally, they are summed up as failure to give a true assent of faith: to believe in God and trust him, including following his commands of worship and justice.
Now, as chapter 23 begins, God’s Word expresses hope in the future: there will come a Good Shepherd, of the line of David. This is a prediction of the coming Jesus, the Christ. He will gather a remnant of the people of Israel and care for them.
Mark 6:30-34
And here is this Jesus, taking care of his flock. The disciples went out last week. Now they return and report to Jesus all they have seen, heard, experienced, and accomplished. Jesus sees that it is important for them to take time to make sense of their experiences and to determine what changes they will create in them. Us 21st century folks call this “processing.” With them gone, Jesus has perhaps had some time to resolve some confusions with his family and friends in Nazareth and maybe even to rest. He likely has done some processing in prayer to his Father. He wants to give his disciples, shepherds-in-training, the benefits of some time off, too.
But, this time, Jesus’ plan to help his disciples rest and learn from their experience is not what happens. Instead, they have a whole new level of understanding to learn. Next, they help feed the five thousand. While the Gospel of John goes on for several chapters about Jesus feeding the five thousand, terse Mark covers it in the eight verses that follow today’s reading!
Mother Church wants us to have the longer study, and so we will have the Gospel of John version all the way through August.
For today, as a setting for that teaching on the Eucharist, we have some key guidelines for shepherds-to-be:
- Talking about your ministry experiences in a safe place is important
- It’s important to take some time apart to rest.
- Shepherds need to take time to eat.
- But, it’s more important to feed your flock.
- If the Holy Spirit seems to have a different plan from you, follow the Holy Spirit, who often speaks through events in life.
- Let your heart be moved with compassion when you see the needs of your people.
- Those needs of your people include leadership/shepherding, teaching, solving practical problems (verses 35-38), and taking care of physical needs (verses 39-43)
As I read and write this, I have barely had time to rest and eat for several weeks. It’s not hard to examine my conscience and admit that I haven’t taken good care of myself–and to observe that I have sometimes been too busy to attend to the “time with you” needs of some of my friends.
To this, I think: what has caused the busyness? Needs of others I care for or my own pursuits? It would seem the answer to that question would determine how I might move toward repentance. Let go of some less significant pursuit, as Jesus did, or maybe be more attentive to upcoming likely needs of others?
Ephesians 2:13-18
Paul speaks to us laity, as well as to priests and other religious. The division implied in today’s reading is the difference between Jews and Gentiles, but the peace of Christ Paul talks about can be applied to any division. We have so many!
One division that has troubled me much in recent months is a division that has never seemed to me to BE A DIVISION that circles in Catholic media. That is a division of energy between those who think it is very important to recover and enhance our belief in the True Presence of God in the Eucharist and those who believe we are equally called to become Christ’s Practical Presence in our services to people on the fringes–the elderly, vulnerable infants, immigrants and refugees, the homeless, the mentally ill, the censored, the poor, the violent, the victimized–those who are struggling in life.
It is an equivalent of Jew-Gentile in Ephesus. While 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John talk much about “love” in Ephesus and some traditions say the Blessed Virgin lived there, before the end of the first century, the divisions between Jew and Gentile were serious. Speaking to that division, Paul could be speaking to us in shepherd school today: “He came and preached peace to those who were far off and those who were near, for thorugh him we both have access in the one Spirit to the Father.
Application
A group from Lexington took a bus to Indianapolis on Thursday to attend the National Eucharistic Congress. Thursday night we listened to stories of practical Eucharistic miracles of physical and spiritual healing told by Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart and the story of God’s great love for all his people told by Fr. Mike Schmitz. On the stage, there was no competition between the two ways to honor the Eucharist. We can love God in liturgy and worship. We can love God in action. Same love. Same God.
In his talk, Fr. Mike kept saying, “You know the story” as he retold the story of the keryma through the eyes of the pilgrims on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. He talked much about the power of that love present to us today in the mass and the Eucharist. He talked about that love as fire—fire of God come into the world through our hearts.
Part of his presentation and the others I heard on Thursday also talked about the importance of realizing that it isn’t just that Jesus is PRESENT at the mass. It is that Jesus is PRESENT and OFFERS HIMSELF IN SACRIFICE at every mass.
Every mass is Holy Thursday—yes. Every mass is also Good Friday. Jesus gives himself up to us, for us. And every mass is Easter Sunday and Pentecost, for Jesus, who comes and offers himself to the Father, is also present to us and in us as we offer ourselves for those who are near and dear to God and those who are not near, but still dear.
We who love God are all called to be shepherds to others. Vatican II made that very clear. We are all called to believe in God’s Presence and Sacrifice in the mass.
Fr. Mike concluded by saying, “I’ve never heard of a revival without a call for repentance.” He talked specifically about the sin of indifference to the wonder and beauty and power of the Eucharist and the mass. He asked, “What are your fire extinguishers?”
It is a good question. For me, it is a division that puts Adoration in competition with self-giving shepherding ministry. I’m ready to repent of what might seem to be indifference, but reflection tells me it is really a hardening of my heart at times to one side or the other.
Then with a new thought, I laugh out loud. When I think about it, at Jesus’ shepherd school in today’s Gospel, he had the same dilemma. In many ways, he was inviting his disciples to make a Holy Hour–to come apart with him, rest, and reflect on how God was working in their lives. But then, when the crowds came, he taught them–and fed them–and THEN made a Holy Several Hours with his Father instead of enjoying the popularity that free bread brought him (John 6:15).
Food for serious thought there.
A Personal Note
Next Sunday will be my last post at A Catholic Moment. Details next week about what calls me from here to elsewhere, as well as how we can keep in touch, if you like.
For now, this prayer:
Lord, I thank you for the fire of your love in my heart. I thank you for the fire of your love which has called so many to Indianapolis this week to express and enhance our belief in Your Presence, Your Sacrifice, and Your Call. Help me to be a good-enough shepherd student in your shepherd school to regularly worship and adore you in the mass and the elements of bread and wine. Help me, too, Lord, to remember that since I have that wonderful gift of You that I may, in turn, offer myself to bring your loving Presence into the world through my sacrifices of time, talent, and love to carry lambs on my shoulders—those who stay safely in green pastures and those who wander away, those I know well and those whom I’ve yet to meet, those who are easy to carry and those who are wiggly, heavy, or dirty. Lord, keep me in your school for shepherds until I can shepherd everyone, just like you.
