The First Reading for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle B (Jeremiah 23:1-6) describes problematic shepherds and God’s response this problem. Shepherds who drive away and scatter sheep, shepherds who neglect and do not care for sheep, are to be replaced by the new sheep, who is God Himself, hailed from the line of David, for the sake of the sheep.
So the Responsorial Psalm (23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6)
reminds us that our shepherd is the Lord (Yahweh) , as David sung, “יְהוָ֥ה רֹ֝עִ֗י/Yahweh ro-i” (The Lord is my shepherd/The Lord shepherds
me/The Lord tends me)(Psalm 23:1).
And, because the Father and Jesus are one (John 10:30, 38), God sending Himself
as our new shepherd by raising a shoot out of the Davidic royal line (Jeremiah
23:5) in the human flesh of Jesus, Christ the Son (John 1:1, 14; cf. Romans
1:3; cf. Matthew 1:6-17). That is why God
in Jesus said, Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ καλός ποιμὴν
/Ego eimi ho kalos poimen” (I am the Good Shepherd)(John 10:11).
And the Gospel Reading (Mark 6:30-34) reflects a character
of Jesus the Christ, the Son, who is our Good Shepherd, and how he takes care
of “sheep without a shepherd”. The sequent narrative (Mark 6:35-44), which is also
reflected in the Gospel Reading for the 17th Sunday (John 6:1-15),
describes more about how our Good Shepherd took care of the “sheep without a shepherd”.
When he saw “sheep without a shepherd”, Jesus was “ἐσπλαγχνίσθη/esplanchnisthe”
(moved with compassion, having his internal organs shaken) and taught on many
things with his words (Mark 6:34). And, he fed all of them to their complete
contentment out of five small loaves and two fish (Mark 6:35-44; John 6:1-15).
As the Good Shepherd, Jesus took “sheep without a shepherd” in, because of his
deep compassion for them, cared for them, providing them with his teaching and
bread with fish. And we see this as a prototype of Mass, which has two pillars:
the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Jesus the Good Shepherd is the permanent replacement of false shepherds who did harms on sheep, making them “sheep without a shepherd” or “bunch of lost sheep”.
The Second Reading (Ephesians 2:13-18) gives another view on the Good Shepherd. Reading this together with John 10:11-18, the Good Shepherd Discourse, Jesus, our Good Shepherd, not only kept his original sheep (the disciples) but also brought “lost sheep without a shepherd” (people who needed Jesus the Christ as their shepherd) to his sheep pen by laying down his life – shedding his blood. And a result of the Good Shepherd bringing all the sheep to him as one flock, mending damages done by bad shepherds or false shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-2), whom Jesus called “thieves and robbers”(John 10:8,10), is unity through reconciliation with God, characterized with peace, as envisioned in Jesus’ Last Supper prayer (John 17:20-23).
So,
Fr. Arturo Bautista, at Infant Child Jesus parish in Chicago, challenged us, in
his homily, how good we care for those whom we are called to care – how compassionate
we are to them and how well we act on compassion, This question is not limited
to those who are considered as “shepherds” or “leaders”, including bishops and
priests.
By
virtue of Baptism and Confirmation, we are called to function as shepherds,
whether you are clergies or lay faithful:
Christ, high priest
and unique mediator, has made of the Church "a kingdom, priests for his
God and Father." The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly.
The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation,
each according to his own vocation, in Christ's mission as priest, prophet, and
king. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are
"consecrated to be . . . a holy priesthood." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1546)
And
the above reflects the below words from this Vatican II Council Dogmatic
Constitution of the Church:
Christ the Lord, High
Priest taken from among men, made the new people "a kingdom and priests to
God the Father". The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the
Holy Spirit, are consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, in order
that through all those works which are those of the Christian man they may
offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the power of Him who has called them
out of darkness into His marvelous light. Therefore all the disciples of
Christ, persevering in prayer and praising God, should present themselves as a
living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Everywhere on earth they must bear
witness to Christ and give an answer to those who seek an account of that hope
of eternal life which is in them.
Lumen Gentium, 10-1
Deeply visceral compassion (σπλάγχνα/ splagchnon) (Mark 6:34),
which is what characterizes the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), our High Priest
(Hebrews 4:14-5:10; 7:1-8:6;9:11-28), Jesus made ultimate sacrifice on the
Cross, shedding his blood, for those whom he felt compassion and shepherded to
reconcile with God and to bring them as one body in him (1 Corinthians 12:1-28;
cf. John 17:20-23). As to imitate our Good Shepherd, Paul has called us to
present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans
12:1).
And
in the Introduction to GIRM (General Instruction of the Roma Missal), it says:
Moreover, by this nature of the
ministerial Priesthood, something else is put in its proper light, something
certainly to be held in great esteem, namely, the royal Priesthood of the
faithful, whose spiritual sacrifice is brought to completion through the
ministry of the Bishop and the Priests, in union with the Sacrifice of Christ,
the sole Mediator. For the celebration of the Eucharist is the action of the
whole Church, and in it each one should carry out solely but totally that which
pertains to him, in virtue of the place of each within the People of God. The
result of this is that greater consideration is also given to some aspects of
the celebration that have sometimes been accorded less attention in the course
of the centuries. For this people is the People of God, purchased by Christ's
Blood, gathered together by the Lord, nourished by his word, the people called
to present to God the prayers of the entire human family, a people that gives
thanks in Christ for the mystery of salvation by offering his Sacrifice, a
people, finally, that is brought together in unity by Communion in the Body and
Blood of Christ. This people, though holy in its origin, nevertheless grows
constantly in holiness by conscious, active, and fruitful participation in the
mystery of the Eucharist. Paragraph
5
Now,
it is clear that as Baptized and Confirmed faithful, we all have our parts in
our priestly service to each other, with our compassion, making it like Christ’s
deeply visceral
compassion (σπλάγχνα/ splagchnon) (Mark 6:34), not only to teach and
provide but also to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), as he
did on the Cross.
Is
this too much for you?
But,
if you want to enter the Kingdom at the eschaton,
Fr. Arturo, reminded that we will be held accountable when Christ returns how
well we acted with compassion – doing the works of mercy, spiritually and
corporally, for we all are, indeed, priestly – to act with compassion as the
Good Shepherd did, not leaving any “lost sheep” in isolation or in despair.
Remember,
Jesus will “punish” us by prohibiting from entering the Kingdom (Matthew
25:31-46), as God punished bad shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-2), if we lack compassion
and did not act on it as shepherds to our neighbors in need.
By
virtue of Baptism and Confirmation, anointed with the Holy Spirit, we all are
shepherds, striving to be like the Good Shepherd with deeply visceral
compassion (σπλάγχνα/ splagchnon). And this is,
after all, we keep his Mandatum Novum: Love one another as Christ has
loved us (John 13:34).
So, if you are a parent, you are a shepherd to your
children.
If you are a teacher, you are a shepherd to your
students.
If you are a manager, you are a shepherd to those
whom work with you.
If you are a mayor, you are a shepherd to those who
live in the city.
If you serve as a head of state, you are a shepherd
to all the citizens in the state.
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