The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the example of Jesus as the Good Shepherd who responds to the needs of people.
Led by the Good Shepherd
The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah describes restoration after the Exile through the Righteous Branch of David.
* [23:1–8] With the false rulers (shepherds) who have governed his people the Lord contrasts himself, the true shepherd, who will in the times of restoration appoint worthy rulers (vv. 1–4). He will provide a new king from David’s line who will rule justly, fulfilling royal ideals (vv. 5, 6). “The Lord our justice” is an ironic wordplay on the name of the weak King Zedekiah (“The Lord is justice”). Unlike Zedekiah, the future king will be true to the name he bears. Verses 7–8 may have been added during the exile.1
Psalm 23 describes the actions 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). * [23:1] My shepherd: God as good shepherd is common in both the Old Testament and the New Testament (Ez 34:11–16; Jn 10:11–18).2
The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians declares that Jesus has made Jew and Gentile into one and has broken down the dividing wall.
* [2:1–22] The gospel of salvation (Eph 1:13) that God worked in Christ (Eph 1:20) is reiterated in terms of what God’s great love (Eph 2:4), expressed in Christ, means for us. The passage sometimes addresses you, Gentiles (Eph 2:1–2, 8, 11–13, 19, 22), but other times speaks of all of us who believe (Eph 2:3–7, 10, 14, 18). In urging people to remember their grim past when they were dead in sins (Eph 2:1–3, 11–12) and what they are now in Christ (Eph 2:4–10, 13), the author sees both Jew and Gentile reconciled with God, now one new person, a new humanity, one body, the household of God, a temple and dwelling place of God’s Spirit (Eph 2:15–16, 19–22). The presentation falls into two parts, the second stressing more the meaning for the church.3
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus shows mercy for the crowd by feeding the Five Thousand.
* [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 34:15.4
Julie Kalkowski shares that her 89 year old father is still grieving the loss of his wonderful wife 13 months ago. For a while, he was very angry with God and was often bitter about the turn his life had taken. One day she stopped in to say ‘hello’ and he had a smile on his face. He had just hung up the phone and told her the widow thanked him for reaching out to her as she felt so alone. Julie’s Dad’s phone call helped her see she wasn’t abandoned, that someone cared for her. At 89, her dad can only do limited Deacon duties now, but he has started a phone ministry.
The Good Shepherd came to bring us peace and to reduce our fears by teaching us we are never alone, that God is always with us. I also think Jesus tried to help us see those on the margins. My sense is that Jesus is calling us to move beyond the flock of “me” to the flock of “we.” And based on my father’s experience, the flock of “we” is a much better place to be.5
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)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 6:30-34 comments that this is what the true Shepherd does: he knows and cares for each one of us. Because he understands what it’s like to be human, he provides for all our needs, both physical and spiritual.
Look over the past week or month. How has Jesus cared for you? Think of concrete examples of ways—even minor ones—that he has provided for you, even amid your challenges and trials. Let all these memories inspire you to trust in the Good Shepherd who never, ever abandons his flock. “Jesus, thank you for being the Good Shepherd who cares for my every need.”7
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the famine from the Word of God that the people of Jeremiah’s time experienced. Jesus' intention to provide rest for the disciples is interrupted by the need of the crowd to hear the truth of the Word of God. Friar Jude reminds us of the call in Ephesians to live as a community in God.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, is grateful that his spiritual father, St. Francis of Assisi, took the Sermon on the Mount seriously and spent his life trying to imitate Jesus. Likewise, Francis’ followers, especially in the beginning, tried to imitate Francis. Like the Quakers, Shakers, Amish, Mennonites, and the Catholic Worker Movement, Franciscanism offers a simple return to the Gospel as an alternative lifestyle more than an orthodox belief system. The Sermon on the Mount was not just words for these groups! They focused on including the outsider, preferring the bottom to the top, a commitment to nonviolence, and choosing social poverty and divine union over any private perfection or sense of moral superiority.
Dorothy Day (1897–1980), one of the founders of the Catholic Worker Movement, understood the Sermon on the Mount as the foundational plan for following Jesus: “Our manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount, which means that we will try to be peacemakers.” [2] She observed that “we are trying to lead a good life. We are trying to talk about and write about the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, the social principles of the church, and it is most astounding, the things that happen when you start trying to live this way. To perform the works of mercy becomes a dangerous practice.” [3] That’s because Jesus was teaching an alternative wisdom that shakes the social order instead of upholding the conventional wisdom that maintains it. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is not about preserving the status quo! It’s about living here on earth as if the Reign of God has already begun (see Luke 17:21). In this Reign, the Sermon tells us, the poor are blessed, the hungry are filled, the grieving are filled with joy, and enemies are loved.8
When we reflect on our experience of Love in the Good Shepherd we understand our mission to be shepherds to the flock in which we live.
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