The image of a shepherd runs through our first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, the responsorial psalm, and into the Gospel as well. It’s a wonderful set of readings in that, in our 1st reading we hear of God’s people in desperate need of a new king & shepherd, and we hear Jeremiah’s prophecy of a new king and shepherds to come. Then in the gospel we see the fulfillment of that prophecy.
A shepherd and sheep are among the most common images in scripture readings. Shepherds were common and everyone at that time would have encountered shepherds on a regular basis. They were known for their caring nature and protectiveness to their sheep; and sheep were known for their loyalty to their shepherds. There was a very close bond between the two. So, it’s no wonder that a shepherd became a powerful biblical symbol representing the Lord. In John’s Gospel Jesus calls himself “The Good Shepherd”. And our Responsorial Psalm today, probably the most popular of all Palms, begins with the words, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
And the Lord, through the prophets called his chosen people “his flock.”; and the rulers over his flock as shepherds. The kings of Israel were called shepherds because they were expected to act on behalf of God towards his people and had a duty to look after the people. But as we hear in our first reading, God was quite disappointed with his shepherds. Many of the kings of Israel were kings of little or no faith. So, in our reading we hear one of the great prophecies of the Old Testament. Jeremiah was relaying these words from God during one of the worst periods of history for God’s people. When Jeremiah was speaking, half of the Israelites had already been forced into slavery in Babylon and it wouldn’t be long before the rest followed. Jeremiah, in the clearest terms possible, blames the misfortunes on the kings, the shepherds of the people. It is they who had sinned and allowed the flock to be scattered, and he tells them that this neglect will certainly be punished.
But Jeremiah not only announces the Lord’s judgment against the shepherds of Israel, but also provides a note of great hope. He prophecies that God will raise up new shepherds that will truly guard the flock. He goes one step further to prophecy that God will raise up a true King for Israel, a descendant of David, who will be the salvation of the people.
We, of course can see that this great prophecy was fulfilled in the person of Jesus. In today’s Gospel reading we can see the prophecy of Jeremiah in all its various aspects come to fulfillment, the greatest part, the coming of the Messiah, the Shepherd King. And we can see the “New Shepherds” from the prophecy as Christ’s Apostles. Jesus had been instructing the Apostles to lead as the new Shepherds of Israel. In last week’s Gospel we heard Jesus sending them out two by two on their first missions. Now in today’s Gospel we hear of them returning to Jesus, eager to report in with the good news of what they had been able to do and teach. Jesus invites them away to be alone and to rest but are unable because of a large crowd, who Jesus says, “are like sheep without a shepherd.”
As human beings we have a strong tendency to seek groups for support and protection. In some ways we are gregarious, although we each have enough individuality to stand apart from the crowd. But still, because we tend to stay in groups, we recognize the importance of strong leaders for the group. We are attracted by a strong leader, just as the people of today’s Gospel were attracted to Jesus. When we don’t have strong leaders, we feel vulnerable just like the people of Jeremiah’s time who had weak and corrupt leaders. That’s not to say that all leaders, even strong leaders, lead in the right direction. Many strong leaders have led their people to destruction. So, if we allow ourselves to be led by someone, we have to make sure they are leading us in the right direction; that they have the right qualities to lead us. I could really get sidetracked here, going down the road of talking about the elected leaders in our government, but I would rather keep this positive. So, I’ll just ask, then, what qualities do we look for in a leader? First, a leader must be strong and compassionate, just as Jesus was. Secondly as St. Paul tells the Corinthians, a leader must be capable of uniting the people in truth.
When we think of leaders, we naturally tend to think about those in the highest echelons of authority: the Holy Father, bishops and priests, or the president and other government leaders throughout the world; or even corporate CEO’s and other managers, but leadership doesn’t stop there. By the grace of the Sacrament of confirmation we are all given the responsibility of being leaders in the Church. We all have the responsibility to be witnesses to Christ. It’s up to all of us who are working or going to school out in the secular world to be the face of Christ to all those that we meet. Through the Sacrament of Marriage, husbands and wives assume the responsibility of leading their spouses and their children to God. Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, bishops, priests and deacons assume the responsibility of leading in word and in sacrament. All these leadership roles must also combine strength and compassion.
The leadership we all share in, as confirmed Catholics, is directly related to the leadership entrusted to the Apostles in today’s Gospel. The Apostles later received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to give them strength; the same spirit that we received at confirmation. When the Apostles received the Holy Spirit, they allowed the Spirit to speak through them, just as we need to do. That’s an area where we all need help. We’re often tempted to compromise in a society that has come to reject Christ and his teachings more and more instead of proclaiming him and his truth.
Proclaiming the truth is not always easy. That’s why Jesus and the Apostles were trying to get away to rest. Even amidst the excitement of what they had done, they would have been tired. We all need to get away for rest once in a while. That’s a tradition that has been carried on through the history of the Church. All clergy and religious go on retreats regularly. Just as the Apostles had reported back to Jesus in today’s Gospel, all bishops are required to return to Rome every three years to meet with the Pope and give a status report of their diocese. Priests and deacons meet with their Bishop or Archbishop once a year to report in and give a status of our ministries. And as most of us here know, a key foundation stone in any marriage is good communication between husband and wife.
As the Gospel points out we all need rest occasionally. As it turned out, Jesus and his disciples didn’t find rest as they tried to escape from the crowd; just like we often don’t. But just planning to do so is already therapeutic and sets a boundary between our work in life and the equally important acknowledgment of God’s presence in our lives.
When Jesus notes that people are “like sheep without a shepherd”, he is saying in effect that they need to be reminded of the primacy of God’s love in their lives and of the need to be affirmed by that love. Ultimately, it’s not the success at work that gives direction and meaning to life but rather the growing awareness of a powerful and loving God who asks us to come aside and bask in a presence that truly makes life worthwhile.
Today’s Gospel may at first seem to suggest that we should separate ourselves from our work at times in order to find peace and quiet. And while that is truly part of the equation, there’s something more profound at issue here. We must also find the quiet place in our hearts to which we can withdraw at any time, whether we’re at work or at play. It’s in this quiet place where we can truly listen to God and hear the words that we first heard at our baptism, “You are my beloved child.” These words of God are spoken to each one of us just as they were to Jesus. They’re spoken quietly, but very insistently. And when we take time to hear them in that quiet place in our hearts, there is nowhere else we would rather be, for they affirm us and liberate us to be all that we are meant to be. And when this happens, we are no longer confused about the meaning of life or about our ability to live in peace and joy as witnesses to Christ.
Our responsorial Psalm today really sums it up, “The Lord is my Shepherd. There is nothing I shall want.” God is our shepherd, and he wants to guide our lives. Even though Psalm 23 was written many centuries before Jesus, it’s only natural for us to think of Jesus when we pray this Psalm, because when we have Jesus in our life, we want for nothing because we truly do have everything. And we are no longer “Sheep without a shepherd.