July 21, 2024
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
There are many symbolic images found in the prophetic books of Old Testament which quite frequently carry through to the New Testament, especially in the parables of Jesus. One of these is the image of God as a vine and Israel as the branches or a vineyard. Another is God as the Bridegroom and Israel as a bride. A third is one that we hear about today, the Good Shepherd and the Sheep.
It is found first in the reading from the book of Jeremiah (Jer. 23:1-6). Jeremiah endures a long contentious ministry, it begins during the reign of King Josiah (627BC) in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, continues through the reign of Josiah’s son, Jehoiakim, when an attempted reform of Josiah collapses, and ends during the final destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon (582BC).
As the second Major Prophet, Jeremiah, continues the warnings of the prophets before him against Judah’s crimes of idolatry, social injustice, murder, adultery, corruption, and abuse in worship. In his messages to Judah, Jeremiah uses images that are similar to the prophets before him, but he also introduces the image of the bad shepherd as he continues his warnings against the evil leaders of Judah.
The priests have misled the people away from proper worship and scattered their interest to the pagan gods of foreign nations. And they have mistreated and oppressed the poor and downtrodden, using their abundance for lavish festivals. For their evil actions God threatens, “I will take care to punish your evil deeds.” (Jer. 23:2).
On the other hand, God makes a promise to those who have remained faithful and those who have been mistreated at the hands of their leaders. He will gather the remnant of His flock who have been driven away and bring them back to their homeland where they will thrive. And he will appoint righteous leaders, good shepherds, who will treat them properly as God’s people.
Moreover, the Lord confirms the coming of the Messiah promised through the line of David, “Behold, the days are coming when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security.” (Jer. 23:5-6).
Of course, we detect the fulfillment of this promise with Jesus as we move into the Gospel for today (Mk 6:30-34). The apostles have returned from the mission trip that they were sent on one week ago and they are excited to report everything to Jesus. He knows they must be exhausted from their trip, so he invites them to go to a deserted place to rest a while.
But people are approaching them in great numbers, probably they are curious having heard of the deeds of the apostles. Jesus and his men manage to get to the deserted place by way of boat, but the people follow and find them anyway. This is when we first hear of Jesus acting as a good leader who will shepherd the people: “When he disembarked and 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.” (Mk. 6:34).
With statements like these found in the Gospels, there is no doubt that Jesus viewed himself as the one sent by God to shepherd the people of Israel. He explicitly makes this claim numerous times, especially in the book of John. He says things like, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:10-11). And “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So, I sacrifice my life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:14-15).
Indeed, Jesus fulfills the role of the Good Shepherd promised by God through the prophet Jeremiah. But there is something more to consider. After his death and Resurrection, and before his Ascension, Jesus knew he would no longer be physically present to shepherd those who came to believe in him. So, he made a contingency plan for someone else to do this. It was one of his closest disciples, Peter.
In the last chapter of John’s Gospel, some of the apostles have decided to go fishing and while they are in the boat, John recognizes the Lord standing by the shore. Peter is so anxious to see Jesus that he jumps out of the boat and runs to the shore (Jn. 21:1-14). Here he has a brief conversation with Jesus. To counteract Peter’s thrice denial of Jesus at his trial, Jesus instructs Peter three times to care for, tend, and feed his sheep as Peter exuberantly declares his love for Jesus (Jn. 21:15-19). Peter will thus take over as the leader, the Good Shepherd who guides the sheep.
Shortly thereafter, Peter along with the other apostles will do exactly this. They will become the leaders of the early Christian communities. With time they will appoint others to help out and soon the vocation of Holy Orders is born. This has continued until this day in our Church. These are holy, dedicated men who preach and celebrate Mass and the Sacraments and guide the people of God through decision making.
But there is another caveat to the royal priesthood which is recognized by the Second Vatican Council: “The Lord Jesus, “whom the Father has sent into the world” (Jn 10:36) has made his whole Mystical Body a sharer in the anointing of the Spirit with which he himself is anointed. In him all the faithful are made a holy and royal priesthood; they offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ, and they proclaim the perfections of him who has called them out of darkness into his marvelous light. Therefore, there is no member who does not have a part in the mission of the whole Body; but each one ought to hallow Jesus in his heart, and in the spirit of prophecy bear witness to Jesus.”
What this means is that every member of the Catholic Church anointed by the Holy Spirit has his or her own obligation to tend the sheep who make up our parishes. We are therefore called upon to offer our time and talent in the service of the Church as much as a lay ministry position might permit. We help prepare for and participate in Mass as sacristans, altar servers, lectors, and extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. We serve as godparents and witnesses at the celebration of certain sacraments, and we bring Holy Communion to the sick and the homebound. There are many other groups and committees to which we can also devote our time and talent. These include music ministry, faith formation, charity and justice, parish and family life, and a host of others
As members of the Body of Christ we are all called to leadership as Good Shepherds to tend to and care for Christ’s sheep. A role delegated to Peter by Jesus and all of us anointed by virtue of our Baptism.
