16th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Cycle B
Jer
23:1-6
Eph
2:13-18
Mk
6:30-34
Today we hear some
damning words against the shepherds of the flock in ancient Israel from the
prophet Jeremiah. Remember that Jeremiah was the prophet before, during and
after the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jewish people by the
Babylonians. He is called the weeping prophet, and his message is often one of
woe and warning. In a lot of ways he blamed the actions of the leaders for the
suffering of the people. So, it’s easy to understand why he slammed them so
harshly. Jeremiah is not the only prophet who chastises ineffective or even
dangerous shepherds, and we have been both blessed and cursed with both good
and bad shepherds since the time of the apostles.
The image of sheep and
shepherds is a common one throughout the scriptures, not just in the gospels.
Shepherds were a paradoxical group of people in the ancient world. They were
both celebrated and despised. They served a very important function, but they
did so with a very dirty group of animals. Not only were sheep a great source
of wool and meat, they also served a vital function in the sacrificial life of
the temple. But they were dirty and smelly, and as Pope Francis has famously
said, the shepherds need to smell like the sheep, and so they probably weren’t
so pleasant to be around.
The shepherds would live
amongst the sheep, apart from the community. Oftentimes they would huddle
together for warmth at night. The job of the shepherd was to watch over the
sheep, to gently guide them to food and water, to keep them together in one
flock. But the shepherd was also called to defend the sheep from predators, to
fight off attacks, to kill the predator if necessary, even give their life for
the sheep. The shepherd was not some wimpy kid who ran away at the first sign
of trouble. He was a strong man who was intimately involved in the wellbeing of
the sheep. They were his livelihood and probably the most valuable things he
possessed. And so he defended and cared for them as if they were his children.
The sheep on the other
hand were, well, sheep. We think of sheep as being docile, not very bright
creatures, who can’t take care of themselves. All they do is eat and drink and
bleat a lot. They are prey, not predator, and have no real defense against
danger other than huddling together in numbers. They are powerless and sort of
just wander about aimlessly, unaware of what is happening around them until
they are threatened. Not a very complimentary analogy for us, is it?
There is always a tension
between leaders and followers in every society, church, organization and group,
isn’t there? The people always seem to need and the leaders always seem to fail
at giving them what they need in some way or other. Rarely do the people universally
acknowledge that this leader or that has generally been good and effective. The
sheep always seem to have something to complain about. They never seem to be
happy or want to take responsibility for themselves They demand a heck of a lot
from their shepherds, and rarely can the shepherds live up to their
expectations.
We do seem to have a love
hate relationship with our leaders, and them with us. For example, we make
jokes about and complain about politicians as a group, it seems, but we still
get a bit of a thrill when we meet our senator or governor or the president personally.
And I think it’s the same way with our spiritual shepherds. You may not like or
agree with your bishop or cardinal or even the pope, but it’s still pretty cool
if you get to shake his hand and say that you met him.
Jesus himself was not acknowledged as good and
effective by all during his time, and even today most people still find fault
with him and his disciples. In today’s gospel we see the people being so
demanding of him that he didn’t even have time to eat. Jesus took the apostles
off to a deserted place so they could rest. The Good Shepherd was shepherding
the shepherds. But the people would not let them rest. When people are hungry,
they’ll do whatever it takes to get fed. No matter how the shepherds feel, the
sheep don’t care. They just want to be fed. And the good shepherds continue to
feed them, even when they’re tired or don’t feel like it.
We expect our priests to do it all for us. We want
them to preside at Mass, perform weddings and baptisms when we want them to, on our schedules. We want them beside our hospital beds and
gravesites. We want them to remember our names and our birthdays. We want them
there to heal our broken marriages and help us raise our rebellious children.
We want them to make us feel welcome and special. We expect them to run our
parishes like efficient small businesses, paying the bills on time without ever
having to ask us for money on Sundays. We want them live up to the highest
standards of discipleship that we rarely hold ourselves to.
And you know what, all that’s exactly what our priests
want to do. That’s why they became priests, and hopefully they entered the
priesthood with open eyes. They knew what would be demanded of them. That’s why
Anthony is here with us this year. They want to gently teach us and guide us in
the truth and treat everyone with mercy and compassion. They want to smell like
the sheep and be an intimate part of our lives. They want to show courage and
strength in defending us from those who would cause us harm and lead us astray.
They desperately want to keep us unified and whole around the truth of the
gospel. But they need our help to do so.
We talk a lot about what a good shepherd is, but not
so much about what it means to be a good sheep. You cannot learn what it means
to be a good shepherd just by studying it in seminary or by being ordained. You
learn how to be a shepherd directly from your sheep. Our former pastor, Fr. Bob,
told me once that the Church ordained him a priest, but his people made him a
pastor. And I can relate to that as a deacon. Much of what I have learned and
experienced in my vocation has come from the joys and hard lessons learned in
my interactions with my people. We are formed as shepherds through experiencing
the amazing love and care we receive from our people, and also through the many
mistakes we make in dealing with you. Sometimes the corrections we receive are
subtle and other times they hit us right between the eyes. You become a good
shepherd by making mistakes, by sometimes unwittingly hurting the sheep, by
being horrified when you learn about it, and by being forgiven by those you
have hurt.
That’s called wisdom, I guess, and a wise shepherd is
probably the one who has been forgiven a lot. And I think that receiving
forgiveness is the highest experience of love. We are all sheep and are all
shepherds in many ways. And each role requires a deep level of self-awareness
and humility if we are to really live them fully. Many people do not want to be
sheep. They do not want to be led, or they see themselves as being greater or
smarter or wiser than the shepherds. Many shepherds can be arrogant and
inflexible and lord it over the sheep. We all make mistakes in our roles, yet
we all need to want to live according to the gospels in all our relationships.
If we expect our leaders to have courage and protect
us from attacks from without and within, we need to have that same courage when
dealing with our shepherds. There have been many times in the history of the
Church when some shepherds were incompetent and some outright evil. But today
for the most part I don’t think there are many shepherds who knowingly want to
lead the flock astray. They are sincere in their interpretations of the gospel,
even though they might veer off course from time to time. Just like the rest of
us, they have a worldview and a point of view when it comes to discipleship,
the church, and its teachings, and that flavors their beliefs and the way they
deal with others. We are all products of our upbringing and life experiences. The
job of all disciples is to be sufficiently informed about the truth of the
church’s teachings, and then to compassionately correct one another when we go
astray. The bishops discuss and debate and work out policies and statements,
bishops help their priests and deacons, priests and deacons work things out amongst
themselves. And the laity are called to have the courage to speak out also. We are
all struggling to work out our own salvation in fear and trembling. Everybody
wants to be treated with compassion and mercy. The sheep deserve this and so do
the shepherds.
So, first shepherd
yourself. Allow yourself to be a sheep and be led. Take time to get better
yourself by truly studying your faith and making it central to who you are. Then
shepherd your family, especially your children. Look at the issues that affect
your family through your eyes of faith. Fulfill the promises you made at your
children’s baptisms by fully integrating your family into the life of your
parish, especially by participating in the Mass. Shepherd your fellow
Christians through fellowship and by sharing in each other’s joys and sorrows. Lovingly
admonish one another and give each other effective feedback. Never gossip. Cut
each other some slack and remember that you will be forgiven by God in the same
measure that you have forgiven others. Finally, shepherd your shepherds, humbly
and with great compassion. If you have questions about why they are doing
something, ask them about it. Don’t assume the worst intentions. If they have
hurt you, tell them. I guarantee you they are unaware of what they have done.
If they have caused you joy, tell them. They are probably unaware that they had
done that, too. Did I say never gossip?
I believe that a large
part of what keeps many of us Catholic are our personal relationships with our
priests. And I truly believe that much of what keeps our clergy faithful is
their relationships with their people. How many of you have more than a cursory
relationship with your priests? So many come through the doors, give a little
nod or a wave, and then never try to get to know the priest. Have you ever met
your bishop? When was the last time you invited them to a meal? Our shepherds
so desire to smell like their sheep, but so often we don’t allow them to. Be
aware of them, care for them, forgive them, and pray for them.
Because that’s what they
do for you.
