Catechumen: Teresa, Janus and Paulis
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
16th SUNDAY(B) 19 July 2009
In the gospel reading last Sunday Jesus sent the apostles out with instruction to proclaim the gospel, to cast out demons and to anoint the sick. At the beginning of today’s gospel they return from their mission and gather around Jesus to tell him what they had done. We shouldn’t forget this context when we get to the end of this gospel passage, with Jesus looking on the crowd and feeling compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. In many ways the mission of the apostles was to be shepherds.
The shepherd theme is a strong one in the Scriptures. We heard it in our first reading, where God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah. This talk of shepherds, of course, refers to the leaders of the people. God complains that the leaders were doing more harm than good to the people. They were like shepherds who had scattered the flock and destroyed it. In this context God promises to raise up a new shepherd, who would gather the scattered flock, and seek out the lost sheep. Eventually, we see that this promise is fulfilled in the person of Jesus who is the good shepherd. So in today’s gospel, as he looks at the crowd he feels compassion on them because they are wandering around like scattered sheep. What does he mean by this? I believe that he is saying that they are good people, full of enthusiasm, but with no real sense of purpose. They have no one to be a true and honest leader among them: someone who will inspire them and unite them; someone to open up for them the way to a rich and fulfilling life.
With this background we can see that this combination of readings today focuses on leadership. When we listen to the three readings we can work out the qualities of a good leader. The best example of this is Jesus himself, who brings to fulfilment the promise made by God to be the shepherd of his people. What are these qualities? The first, it seems to me, is to live with deep compassion. This can take shape in a variety of ways, but the basic ingredient is that the leader is like the shepherd who always acts for the good of the sheep. In other words, leadership is not about personal aggrandisement, but rather about service to others. The second quality we see in Jesus is that he proclaims a clear vision of the future, and the pathway to get there. This vision is found in his proclamation of the Kingdom of God. It was also expressed in our second reading in terms of the breaking down of barriers between people. The vision is focused on reconciliation and peace-building. The unity of the sheepfold—to use the language of our first reading—is a primary value. The third characteristic of a good leader, according to our readings today, is that they act with great integrity and honesty. Good leaders value justice, and work to bring it about where it is absent; they lead their people to act with justice. As the Scriptures tells us elsewhere: Jesus is the righteous one; our God acts justly and tenderly.
As always, however, the challenge for us is to move from this biblical teaching to our own lives. I’d like to focus on three applications of this teaching. The first is to apply it to the church. In a very simple way, these readings take us to the core mission of the church, namely to follow the example of the apostles. In this sense we can speak of the church being apostolic. Its mission is to model for the world at large what is possible in God’s plan for the unity of the whole of creation. The church must be the witness to the reconciliation and peace-building that characterise true leadership.
The second application I would like to make is to families and in particular parents. It may be helpful for parents to think of their role in terms of shepherding their family, especially the children, along the lines given by Jesus. In other words, they take Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as their model. Like Jesus, their parenting is marked by compassion and a concern for the welfare of their children. This is why parents teach their children wisdom. They help them grow in maturity and good judgement. They teach them love and respect for others. They teach them to live justly and to act honestly in their dealings with all people. In short, parents help their children to take ownership of the vision of the Kingdom of God proclaimed so strongly by Jesus.
The third application I would like to make is to the youth. In a very real way this period in your life is when you learn to become leaders. Of course, there will be different ways and different situations in which each of you will exercise leadership. Some may be designated as leaders of certain groups, but this doesn’t mean that each of you isn’t called to be a Christian leader after the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd. By leadership here, I mean that you live in such a way as to be a model of the Christian life, and that you show that the Christian life is characterised by justice, goodness, reconciliation, peace-building, freedom and joy. The true leader is the one who has a concern for others and wants the best for them.
We are all invited today to renew and refresh our vision of God’s plan for the whole of creation. We are invited to be like the apostles, and be public witnesses to the gospel.
Fr. Gerard Kelly
The shepherd theme is a strong one in the Scriptures. We heard it in our first reading, where God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah. This talk of shepherds, of course, refers to the leaders of the people. God complains that the leaders were doing more harm than good to the people. They were like shepherds who had scattered the flock and destroyed it. In this context God promises to raise up a new shepherd, who would gather the scattered flock, and seek out the lost sheep. Eventually, we see that this promise is fulfilled in the person of Jesus who is the good shepherd. So in today’s gospel, as he looks at the crowd he feels compassion on them because they are wandering around like scattered sheep. What does he mean by this? I believe that he is saying that they are good people, full of enthusiasm, but with no real sense of purpose. They have no one to be a true and honest leader among them: someone who will inspire them and unite them; someone to open up for them the way to a rich and fulfilling life.
With this background we can see that this combination of readings today focuses on leadership. When we listen to the three readings we can work out the qualities of a good leader. The best example of this is Jesus himself, who brings to fulfilment the promise made by God to be the shepherd of his people. What are these qualities? The first, it seems to me, is to live with deep compassion. This can take shape in a variety of ways, but the basic ingredient is that the leader is like the shepherd who always acts for the good of the sheep. In other words, leadership is not about personal aggrandisement, but rather about service to others. The second quality we see in Jesus is that he proclaims a clear vision of the future, and the pathway to get there. This vision is found in his proclamation of the Kingdom of God. It was also expressed in our second reading in terms of the breaking down of barriers between people. The vision is focused on reconciliation and peace-building. The unity of the sheepfold—to use the language of our first reading—is a primary value. The third characteristic of a good leader, according to our readings today, is that they act with great integrity and honesty. Good leaders value justice, and work to bring it about where it is absent; they lead their people to act with justice. As the Scriptures tells us elsewhere: Jesus is the righteous one; our God acts justly and tenderly.
As always, however, the challenge for us is to move from this biblical teaching to our own lives. I’d like to focus on three applications of this teaching. The first is to apply it to the church. In a very simple way, these readings take us to the core mission of the church, namely to follow the example of the apostles. In this sense we can speak of the church being apostolic. Its mission is to model for the world at large what is possible in God’s plan for the unity of the whole of creation. The church must be the witness to the reconciliation and peace-building that characterise true leadership.
The second application I would like to make is to families and in particular parents. It may be helpful for parents to think of their role in terms of shepherding their family, especially the children, along the lines given by Jesus. In other words, they take Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as their model. Like Jesus, their parenting is marked by compassion and a concern for the welfare of their children. This is why parents teach their children wisdom. They help them grow in maturity and good judgement. They teach them love and respect for others. They teach them to live justly and to act honestly in their dealings with all people. In short, parents help their children to take ownership of the vision of the Kingdom of God proclaimed so strongly by Jesus.
The third application I would like to make is to the youth. In a very real way this period in your life is when you learn to become leaders. Of course, there will be different ways and different situations in which each of you will exercise leadership. Some may be designated as leaders of certain groups, but this doesn’t mean that each of you isn’t called to be a Christian leader after the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd. By leadership here, I mean that you live in such a way as to be a model of the Christian life, and that you show that the Christian life is characterised by justice, goodness, reconciliation, peace-building, freedom and joy. The true leader is the one who has a concern for others and wants the best for them.
We are all invited today to renew and refresh our vision of God’s plan for the whole of creation. We are invited to be like the apostles, and be public witnesses to the gospel.
Fr. Gerard Kelly
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