How is the Shepherd of the Flock at work among us?

+ J. M. J. +

Homily Outline for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Jesus had gone to some lengths to give Himself time with His apostles in a deserted place, but even there people find them. The last sentence of the Gospel sets our theme:

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.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ responds with spontaneous love and mercy towards the vast crowd, the Heart that would be pierced by the lance already pierced by love. He sees their broken and hungry hearts, He sees their sinful and confused hearts. Without a shepherd of their souls, they are wandering, drifting, astray, and vulnerable. He is moved deep within Himself, and He teaches them. Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, True God and True Man, the Living Word of the Father teaches them.

In this moment we see how God kept His promise to His people. The People of Israel, God’s Chosen People, had gone astray, they had been lead astray, and had ended up far from God, surrounded by bitterness and failure. The He made a promise through the prophet Isaiah:

I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD.

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, 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.

This is just what God did… He DID NOT SPEAK THROUGH HIS PROPHET IN VAIN. God keeps His promises. God keeps His promises to us. In the fullness of time His Only Son Jesus Christ came to us, the righteous shoot, the king to reign and govern wisely. He reigned and governed and taught and saved, all of this labor perfected when He went to the Cross and died, and was buried, and rose again.

Now, my brothers and sisters in Christ, here is where it really gets interesting, but also challenging… After Jesus had ascended into heaven, what did He leave? A book? It wouldn’t be written and collected together for decades. He left a living community, the Church, chief among them the Apostles. They had received His authority to teach, to sanctify, and to govern the flock. We are connected to that flock, and here in our midst is a living successor of the Apostles, standing in that line, in that mission. This is not a theory, it is not an idea, it is a living reality, and Bishop Sample is in our midst, and through him we are shepherded, through him we are connected in a living way to Jesus Christ. He ordained me, and sent me to you as your shepherd; let me emphasize the smallness of that S. Bishop Sample participates in the very fullness of Christ’s priesthood, and he ordains priests, and deacons, to be his sons and collaborators in that mission. I am able to celebrate this Eucharist for you, and to absolve your sins because he laid hands on me and invoked the Holy Spirit and ordained me a priest of Jesus Christ. Thus the rich gifts of the sacraments continue to pour forth from the loving shepherd heart of Christ upon the Church. Listen to the words Paul uses to describe this mission:

you who once were far off have become near… he … made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity …establishing peace…He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

This is what the Lord is speaking to us, a little portion of the flock desperately in need of shepherding, we who in so many different ways need to be drawn near to the Father, we who need to have our barriers broken, we who need to receive God’s peace, we who have been far off and are now drawing near to this altar. Through Jesus Christ, the Chief Shepherd of the Flock, we have access in the Holy Spirit to the Father.

Look within your heart and life… where is God calling you to be reconciled? Where has your conscience been bothering you and inviting you?

Thus far, brothers and sisters in Christ, it might sound like I’m painting a pretty dramatic picture of my mission to you… Well, I think it is pretty dramatic, to be here as your pastor, to be called to be an assistant shepherd to this particular portion of God’s flock. I won’t apologize for thinking that is pretty awesome. HOWEVER… this is not my mission, as in my personal possession. A number of you have asked me to bring back the lost sheep, and I’m sure as you said this, you had the faces of any number of loved ones before your mind’s eye. We all know many others who should be here right now. I am confident God is calling me to be part of this… but I cannot do it alone. How will I meet our lost sheep? Who will bring them to me? Who will encourage them? Who will invite them? Most important, most difficult: who will live for them in such a way that they want to draw near? Who will live the burning fire of Jesus’ pierced heart? It cannot be me alone. That is not Bishop Sample’s call, it is not my call in the sense that it is not also your call. God will do this work in us, but it must be US, and not someone else over there. Together, all things are possible in God. As we prepare to draw near this altar to receive the Shepherd of our Souls, let us place on this altar in prayer our need for conversion and healing, and let us place on this altar every person who should be here with us right now, and ask God that together we may be His instruments in drawing together every member of the flock.




 (the readings for this weekend: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072212.cfm )