Homilies

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 23, 2006

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What’s the Meaning?

Ever since we were kids, we’ve heard Jesus referred to as a shepherd. Indeed, Christ is the first person most people think of when they hear the phrase “good shepherd.” But for most of us, it’s just a nice phrase. Being city–dwellers in the modern world, we’re not even quite sure what a shepherd is.

Today’s Readings for the Mass for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time help us come to know a little better who God is by giving us concrete examples of both the bad and the good shepherd.

In the first reading, we find God raging against Jehoiachin, who has just assumed rule of Judah under very difficult circumstances.

A little background information helps us appreciate Jehoiachin’s position:

He is a young eighteen–year–old who has just taken over rule of Judah, after the death of his father Jehoiakim. Now Jehoiakim’s father was the great Josiah who had led God’s chosen ones away from their demon worship and restored the right worship of God in the Temple.

But after the strong Josiah died, his weak son, Jehoiakim, became king. And until up to the very end of his life, Jehoiakim proved to be not much of a king at all. Just a puppet in fact: first as subject to the pagan king of Egypt and then to that of Babylon. Toward the end of his life, however, Jehoiakim finally got the nerve to rebel. Sadly however, he died before he could lead God’s chosen people to independence.

Now enter the eighteen–year–old Jehoiachin, who finds himself taking over his father’s reign while his country is being besieged by the mighty Babylon.

For the weak Jehoiachin, the decision whether or not to continue the rebellion against Babylon is an easy one. He quickly opts to take the path of least resistance. He wants “peace,” so instead of doing battle, he works a deal with Nebuchadnezzar. And the deal goes something like this: you allow me to continue to live my comfortable life style, and I will subject my entire nation to yours.

Now that we have a bit of the background, we can understand why God is raging at Jehoiachin. Subject my people to a pagan king?!!! No! Thus God sends Jeremiah to deliver a warning to Jehoiachin (and he tells him to deliver it with all the “officials and people listening”). Thus Jeremiah speaks the warning from God:

You the king of Judah, sitting on David's throne… I will abandon you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off. I will hand you over to those who seek to kill you, of whom you are so desperately afraid—to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the mighty Babylonian army. I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will die in a foreign country. You will never again return to the land of your desire… Let the record show that this man Jehoiachin was childless, for none of his sons will ever sit on the throne of David to rule in Judah. His life will amount to nothing. (22:2, 33–40)

Then God proceeds to make a more general statement about those who should be ruling but are not:

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! …concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings. (Jer: 23:1, 2)

God the poet plays on the word attend. “You didn’t attend to the sheep, O shepherd, so I’m going attend to you—and give you the punishment you so richly deserve!

But Jehoiachin refuses to heed God’s warning, and sure enough, eight years later his easy life comes to an end. He is arrested by the very same Nebuchadnezzar with whom he struck the deal. He, his mother, and all his court are led to their new home: the Babylonian prison camps.

And not too much later, we get the fulfillment of the second part of the prophecy: “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock…” (Jer: 23:3)

In fact this is exactly what Saint Paul is talking about in the Epistle for today’s Mass: God himself did come down to gather the flock into one.

“In Christ Jesus,” says Saint Paul, “you who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:13) Christ has made us “one body through the cross.” The Good Shepherd has laid down his very life for the sheep. Thus, not only have the scattered from Judah been reunited in peace, but even we—who were totally outside the flock—have been brought into the fold of the Good Shepherd. Through him, with him, and in him, right worship has again been restored. But this time the Temple is the Mystical Body of Christ. Because the Good Shepherd shed his blood for us, we now have “access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18) through the Mystical Body of Christ.

Now the Gospel for today’s Mass puts the perfect poetic accent on the first two readings. What we get after the intense story of Jehoiachin in the first reading and after the teaching of the Blood of the Cross in the Epistle is a very light remark that can serve to resonate in our hearts for a lifetime. We find that even in the daily life of our Lord (when he was walking the earth), he was always the good shepherd.

Here we have Christ and the exhausted Apostles looking to get away from everyone to get some rest. The people know this, but they follow them anyway. And how does Jesus respond to their rude persistence? “He saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Always, always, always the good shepherd: Jesus had compassion on them.

What’s the Message?

What is the message for us in these readings? What is God saying to me through these readings? For just as Jehoiachin was supposed to respond well upon hearing God’s message, so too are we. Whether we are a bishop, a priest, or a father or mother of a family, we have to ask ourselves: how does this teaching have a direct application to me in my own life.

Bishops have to ask: Am I ruling my diocese like the good shepherd? Am I truly attentive my priests and my faithful, or am I acting more like Jehoiachin, looking to strike deals with the earthly kingdom—in order to protect my assets.

Priests have to ask: Am I ready to die for my parishioners. Am I really into sports, or my own personal pursuits or are my fundamental decisions on what to do with my time based on what’s good for the individuals for whom I am responsible. Or is God going to “attend” to me because I am not “attending” to the flock?

Likewise with fathers and mothers of families: Are my decisions based on my likes or dislikes or on what’s best for the family: uniting the family in the Mystical Body of Christ in our journey to the Father?

A good litmus test for all of us might be the little story in the Gospel today. How lovely it is to hear this about our Lord who, though he was so tired: “He saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” When we die, will our own flock (the priests of our diocese, the faithful of our parish, the children of our family) have memories like this of us, or will they remember that we were only just trying to cover our assets?

What’s the Response?

Yes, perhaps a good response to these readings is to try to imagine what it’s going to be like when we die. What will those to whom we were supposed to be attentive say about us at our funeral? What will our guardian angel say when we meet him face–to–face? What will it be like to receive the justice from God which we so richly deserve? As it says it the Book of Ecclesiastes: “It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time.” (7:2)

Like King David, each of us has been anointed to be a shepherd in some way. Thus each of us is to imitate the Good Shepherd and act with compassion as we attend to our flock. Let us therefore pray with the Psalmist in today’s Mass:

He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.
Amen.

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To download a printable pdf of this homily, click here.

Contribution by Brother Anthony Myers
© SACROS 2006 {www.sacros.com}