Tension in teaching and being good shepherds

The Roman Catholic Lectionary on the 16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time brings us texts which have inspiration for us on many levels. The resonance of the proclamation of the Prophet Jeremiah against the leaders, priest and teachers who have led Israel astray with the turmoil in civil war, revolution and even election campaigns, in our time, opens our minds to hope for the leadership which Jeremiah understands God will provide for Judah and Israel. The Collect prayer today petitions God for the grace to make us ever watchful in keeping God’s commandments. The model we have of the Good Shepherd in Jesus is One who is aware of the needs of the people and Who is with them in compassionate response to the turmoil of life. The verses of the 23^rd psalm describe the companion shepherd who leads to life rich and blessed through difficulty and darkness taking care of all our needs. The texts today and the scholarship of Friar Jude Winkler in the letter to the Ephesians hint at important tensions which the shepherd must address. Our humanity is naturally limited in the effort we are able to bring to the task of shepherd and at the same time is supernaturally able to transcend our human limits through the grace of God. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus plan to provide some rest and recreation for the apostles returning from being shepherds is apparently quickly followed by the return to the needs of the multitude. Was the R and R completed? Was it interrupted by the more important work which required them to transcend the limits of human giving? The tension between taking care of self and others is real. It needs to be addressed in the relationship with the Shepherd of the 23^rd Psalm who anoints and restores. Friar Jude opens our initial sense of the teaching of the Letter to the Ephesians that Paul is celebrating the oneness of the believers of Ephesus by teaching that scholars date this letter to 10 years after the death of Paul and this “oneness” is a ‘development’ of the teaching of Paul by his disciples. Some might ask if we needed to know this scholarly information. It may cause us to reconsider the teaching of Paul. Is that a responsible position for a “teacher” in the model of Shepherd to take? We are in tension. The 23^rd Psalm places us under the observation of our enemies and gives us the assurance that we are invited to live in the house of the Lord forever.