First Reading – Jeremiah 23:1-6;
Second Reading – Ephesians 2:13-18;
Gospel – Mark 6:30-34
Our world, our society and even our Church are divided and somewhat scattered, and the division is regrettable and painful. Jesus looks at us with pity as being like the people of first century Israel — scattered as were the sheep of Jeremiah’s prophecy. Paul reminds us that, like the Ephesian and Jewish converts, they who once were divided (pagan vs Jewish) have been brought together through the Blood of Christ as Christians. Individually, too, we are divided, drawn in different directions by our desires and hopes, by requests for help from others, by demands that pressure us beyond the limits of our time and energy. But the pain of reconciliation is bearable because it enables us to identify with Jesus on his cross. Today’s readings also explain how God, like a Good Shepherd, redeems His people and provides for them.
In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah (sixth century B.C.), thunders against Israel’s careless leaders – the king, some priests, and some court prophets – because they have shown no concern for the poor. The prophet also foretells the rise of a new, good shepherd in the family-line of David. Then he consoles the Israelites enslaved in Babylon, assuring them that God will lead them back to their original pasture in Israel.
Today’s Good Shepherd Responsorial Psalm (Ps 23) affirms David’s Faith and trust in God, the “Good Shepherd.” The Psalm Refrain has us sing, “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”
The second reading introduces Jesus as the shepherd of both the Jews and the Gentiles and explains how Jesus, the good shepherd, has reconciled all of us with His Father by offering Himself on the cross. Paul also speaks about another reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles, brought about by Jesus’ accepting both into the same Christian brotherhood.
The reading from the Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as the good shepherd fulfilling God’s promise given through His prophet Jeremiah in the first reading. Here we see Jesus attending the weary apostles, who have just returned, jubilant, from their first preaching mission, while at the same time expressing concern for the people who, like “sheep without a shepherd,” have gathered at their landing place in the wilderness.
Christians must be people of prayer and action: The Christian life is a continuous passage from the presence of God to the presence of people and back to God again. Prayer is essentially listening to God and talking to Him. One of our main problems is that we do not truly allow God the opportunity to speak to us. We also do not know how to “be still and listen.” Hence, we are often in danger of refusing to allow God to recharge us with spiritual energy and strength. In addition, we do not set aside enough time for God to speak to us and for us to speak to Him. How can we shoulder life’s burdens if we have no contact with the Lord of Life? How can we do God’s work unless we rely on God’s strength? And how can we receive that strength unless we pray to Him individually, in the family, and as a parish community in the Church, and receive His grace by participating in the Holy Mass and through the reception of the Sacraments? However, we must never seek God’s fellowship in order to avoid the fellowship of men but always in order to prepare for it. From our reflection on today’s Gospel, let us remind ourselves that the Christian life consists of meeting with God in the secret place so that we may serve people more effectively in the market place.
The Church has the double responsibility of teaching and feeding: People today find it difficult to balance those two aspects of the Christian life. Some apparently believe that the social ministry of the Church is all that is needed to make Christ present in the world. Others seem to believe that the Church’s major concern should be preaching the Gospel, rather than feeding the hungry and healing the sick. The Church’s duty, so the argument goes, is to spread the Gospel and provide for public worship. Both views are one-sided. There can be no true Christianity without the proclamation of the Gospel. Teaching the Word of God is essential to a Christian community. But that is only half of the story. Christians must also display the same compassion for the suffering that Jesus exhibited by meeting the social and material needs of others – even those who are not members of our Church.