Daily Retreat 07/19/09

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Jer 23: 1-6/ Ps 22(23): 1-3. 3-4. 5. 6 (1)/ Eph 2: 13-18/ Mk 6: 30-34 From today's readings: "I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD.... The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.... In Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.... When [Jesus] disembarked and saw the vast crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things." Sheep and Shepherds The scriptures reminded me of a day in my junior year history class when the teacher announced that we would be getting a student teacher for the rest of the semester. At first, we were excited as we joked about all the things we now could get away with: there would certainly be less homework, easier tests, and little or no discipline in the classroom. On the other hand, after thinking about the matter for awhile, we started to wonder if we were being gypped: would we learn less, and be ill-prepared for our final exams, all because a novice would now be teaching us? Well, the experience of helping to train a student teacher wasn't as traumatic as we had expected. The roles of teacher and student overlapped as she taught us while learning from us, and we learned from our student teacher, while at the same time we were teaching her. In the end, we felt rather honored to play our essential role in the education of a teacher. At times, when the scriptures touch upon the relation of student to teacher, of sheep to shepherd, there is also a certain blurring of the roles. For starters, all of us sheep also have a role to play in the shepherding of the flock. It's never safe to say, "I'm just a plain sheep - whatever happens to all the other sheep isn't my concern." Each of us by our actions either helps to scatter, or helps to gather the flock. We can help our straggling neighbors catch up, or we can drive them further away by turning our backs on them. We're bound to get lost ourselves if we do nothing but sit around complaining that we don't have enough shepherds, enough priests, or you and I can do our own part through prayer and encouragement to call forth the shepherds of tomorrow from our own community. Yes, like it or not, we all play a part in shepherding the flock. The scriptures also have something to say to those whom we recognize the Lord has appointed as our shepherds. Anyone who serves as shepherd, every student shepherd, every pastor, bishop, even the pope, must realize that he is also a sheep, a member of the Good Shepherd's flock, like all Christians of all ages. So everyone called upon to guide other sheep (and remember, that includes all of us to some extent) must never forget that there is only one Good Shepherd. We must never egotistically say, "Follow me!" Rather, we should always humbly point to the One greater than ourselves and say, "Follow Him!" In our weakness, when we see ourselves as just sheep, when we think "I have too many problems of my own to worry about others in need, and I'm too busy anyway," it is then that Jesus our Good Shepherd provides us with courage and direction. As we pass through various valleys of darkness and confront moments of loneliness and the trials of our lives, even our greatest fears can't drown out the comforting voice of this Shepherd, Who searches out all lost sheep, and calls us by name. And in our strength, seeing ourselves as shepherds of sort, when you and I are sharing our blessings and talents with others, we're reminded then that we too are mere sheep under the protection of Jesus, for even He, though Chief Shepherd, humbled Himself also to become the Lamb of God. Our Shepherd and our Lamb! Happy, blessed are we who are part of His flock. Happy, blessed are we whom the Shepherd leads to the Banquet of the Lamb!