Year B / Ordinary Time / Week 16 / Sunday
Readings: Jeremiah 23.1-6 / Psalm 23. 1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 (R/v 1) / Ephesians 2.13-18 / Mark 6.30.34
Readings: Jeremiah 23.1-6 / Psalm 23. 1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 (R/v 1) / Ephesians 2.13-18 / Mark 6.30.34
“...his heart was moved with pity for them” (Mark 6.34)
Compassion alone moves Jesus to respond to the crowds in today’s Gospel reading. He does because they were “like sheep without a shepherd.”
Jesus shepherds lovingly by gathering and caring. His heart is tender, and so, he readily reaches out to many. And because His love is big-hearted, he embraces everyone. Indeed, He yearns to be close to the people, to care for them and to save all. No one is excluded from His concern. Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd.
Let me suggest that Jesus’ way of shepherding is His demand that Christians do the same.
Whether we’re parents or teachers, bosses or mentors, family or friends, ministry leaders or believers in the pew, Jesus commands us to shepherd one another. We do this best when we care for the conversion of another’s soul and restore others back into a community’s love and friendship. When we do this well, we will smell of sheep, even be muddied like they are. In fact, Jesus tells us the risk of doing this: to find that lost sheep, the shepherd sacrifices the comfort, safety, certainty of the penfold. How sacrificial are we when we shepherd or care for others?
Those who lead in government, the community and the church must seriously heed Jesus’ command to shepherd. Priests in particular must care for souls and save them in Jesus’ way. There is no other way if we are serious about living and serving in the person of Christ. So please pray for us, priests, not just when we’re on retreat this coming week but daily. We pray for you always.
I think Christian leaders aren’t Christian because they get the job done, meet the KPIs, and can proudly say, “I have done my duty.” Nor are they because they can craft godly vision-mission statements, right-fit people to jobs, roll out programmes effectively and secure the ROIs, and so justify using their talents well.
They certainly are not Christian leaders when they steer everyone for God’s mission and say, “I am leading like Jesus” but self-righteously refuse to listen and dialogue with others who they judge lesser, not good enough and never worthy for God. More worrisome are Christians who lead without prayer and discernment. How many of their decisions and actions focus on themselves and their needs, prioritize their work and success, and demand too much from others that they suffer unjustly, feel used, even abused? Is this how we’re also leading and caring too? Where is God in our lives and for those who we’re shepherding?
If we do, listen to Jeremiah’s complaint in the First Reading about the leaders of his day. Because they do not act justly and care sincerely, the poor, the foreigners, and the widows of the land suffer. Their actions scatter the people, drive them away, and do nothing for the good of many. Worse, they exclude people from God and the community. These leaders are not the kind of shepherds God wants. They act like hired men caring for sheep they have no connection with. They just do the job. When the thief comes, they abandon the sheep and run away (John 10.11-18).
To Christian leaders who lead like this, God pronounces this sentence: “Doom for the shepherds who allow the flock of my pasture to be destroyed and scattered.” Truly, all who lead, be warned. We too must heed God’s words for in Jesus we’re called to be shepherds even as we’re to be fishers of men. If you have ears, then, listen. What might God be challenging us to in order to lead and care differently?
In contrast to such leaders, there is the good shepherd. He knows his sheep. He protects them. He is willing to lay down his life for them. He cares because he is ever ready to be inconvenienced. Indeed he is inconvenienced after he and the apostles step ashore and see the large crowd. “Moved with pity for them,” Jesus cares.
Jesus does more than pity; he acts. His compassion moves him to meet their needs. He teaches them many things. He heals the sick. He takes bread, blesses it, and feeds them with his own hand. Eventually, he sacrifices himself to save them.
Together, Jesus’s genuine compassion and resolve to act relieves their misery. He thus reveals God’s mercy: a heart that lovingly bears the sufferings of others; even more, a heart that resolutely chooses to care and do something better for everyone.
Isn’t this how God cares for us daily – with mercy, He attends to our needs; with resolve, He renews our lives? Do we also care in a similar way?
Today’s readings demand that we, especially those who shepherd and lead, must never forget what Jesus’ teaching is all about, what his message means, who Jesus’ church is for, and what the Christian life amounts to. It is this, as St Paul teaches today: that Christ Jesus “is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart” (Ephesians 2.14). In Him, no one is excluded. In Him, everyone is welcomed and cared for. In Him, all are saved. In Him, all have God’s peace.
It is therefore good and right to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. He leads us to what is right, frees us from fear, and holds everyone in his mercy. In the Eucharist we will receive, He gives us the power to do the same for everyone.
Many will indeed turn to us for help. They will demand our attention. They will inconvenience us. As Christians, we have a choice to make. We can harden our hearts and exclude them. Or, we can allow compassion to move us to reach out and care. Jesus, who we follow, walks with us to show us His way to shepherd and care for all. The choice is ours.
What will yours be?
Preached at the Church of the Sacred Heart
Photo by Ethan on Unsplash
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