The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to rest in a meditation about our relationship with the Good Shepherd and the sheep of His flock with whom we interact everyday.
Seeing like the Shepherd
The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews contains a paraenesis and a Benediction for us.
* [13:20–21] These verses constitute one of the most beautiful blessings in the New Testament. The resurrection of Jesus is presupposed throughout Hebrews, since it is included in the author’s frequently expressed idea of his exaltation, but this is the only place where it is explicitly mentioned.1
Psalm 23 creates strong images of the Divine Shepherd.
* [Psalm 23] God’s loving care for the psalmist is portrayed under the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Ps 23:1–4) and a host’s generosity toward a guest (Ps 23:5–6). The imagery of both sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Is 40:11; 49:10; Jer 31:10).2
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is spiritually feeding the five thousand who are like sheep without a shepherd.
* [6:31–34] The withdrawal of Jesus with his disciples to a desert place to rest attracts a great number of people to follow them. Toward this people of the new exodus Jesus is moved with pity; he satisfies their spiritual hunger by teaching them many things, thus gradually showing himself the faithful shepherd of a new Israel; cf. Nm 27:17; Ez 34:15.3
Nancy Shirley comments that while the notion of sheep is not always embraced as a positive one, in these readings the key is the relationship between the sheep and the great shepherd. The first reading encourages us to obey and defer to leaders. This may be met with resistance by many, particularly those of my generation who were “programmed” to reject the Establishment.
I think it is important to understand this context – I do not believe it is about blind following of authority. Rather, it is about following a right and justice leader – one who truly watches over us and has responsibility for our well-being. This leader will be held accountable for leading us in the way of the righteous. The reading also urges us to share our blessings, doing good and sacrificing at times. The great shepherd is there to support us and provide us with “all that is good” that we become the face of Jesus to others. There is the expectation that we are the hands and feet of the Lord, that our actions/our lives will glorify Him.4
Don Schwager quotes “The good shepherd feeds us with the words of God,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"The pastures that this good shepherd has prepared for you, in which he has settled you for you to take your fill, are not various kinds of grasses and green things, among which some are sweet to the taste, some extremely bitter, which as the seasons succeed one another are sometimes there and sometimes not. Your pastures are the words of God and his commandments, and they have all been sown as sweet grasses. These pastures had been tasted by that man who said to God, 'How sweet are your words to my palate, more so than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth!' (Psalm 119:103)."(excerpt from Sermon 366.3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 6:30-34 notes it is especially important to our life of faith to spend time now and then simply resting with the Lord. The late Cardinal Hans Urs Von Balthasar, in his book Prayer, described it this way: “Harassed by life, exhausted, we look about us for somewhere to be quiet, to be genuine, a place of refreshment . . . [where we can] restore our spirits in God, to simply let go in him and gain new strength to go on living”.
To simply let go in him can be the hard part. As we try to be quiet before the Lord, most of us find a to-do list forming almost instantly in our minds. Or we begin to experience guilt pangs over things undone. Let those go. Instead, breathe deeply and let the tension drain away. Then try to picture Jesus present with you. If music helps keep your thoughts on the Lord, play something in the background. But don’t be afraid of long stretches of silence. Good friends often sit together silently enjoying each other’s company, not needing to say anything to one another.6
Friar Jude Winkler notes the continuation of a paraenesis in Hebrews along with a prayer to be united with the Good Shepherd. There are mosaics in Rome that depict Jesus as both the Sheep and the Shepherd. Friar Jude reminds us of the need to find balance with rest to offset those times of lengthy dedication to work.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that we come from a very ancient, human-based, natural, biological, universally experienced understanding of God. God’s eternal mystery cannot be captured or controlled, but only received and shared as freely as the breath itself—the thing we have done since the moment we were born and will one day cease to do in this body. God is as available and accessible as our breath itself. Jesus breathes the Spirit into us as the very air of life (see John 20:22)! Our job is simply to both receive and give this life-breath. We cannot only inhale, and we cannot only exhale. We must breathe in and out, accept and let go. Take several minutes to pause and breathe mindfully, surrendering to the mystery of wordless air, the sustainer of life. Part your lips; relax your jaw and tongue. Hear the air flow in and out of your body:
Inhale: YH
Exhale: WH
Let your breathing in and out, for the rest of your life, be your prayer to—and from—such a living and utterly shared God. You will not need to prove it to anybody else, nor can you. Just keep breathing with full consciousness and without resistance, and you will know what you need to know.7
As we encounter other sheep, we may find the pause to breathe the Spirit in and out will open us to see them as children or grandchildren of ours and the Good Shepherd.
References
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