A Homily – The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading – Jeremiah 23:1-6

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22(23)

Second Reading – Ephesians 2:13-18

Gospel Acclamation – John 10:27

The Gospel According to Mark 6:30-34 ©

           

(NJB)

 

Listen!

If you have taken a position as a teacher of the way, then it is incumbent on you to portray your desires for yourself, for your friends and family, for your tribe or nation, as the will of God.

Remember…you are a servant of the people.

God has a plan for the salvation of everyone, though it’s realization is not of this world; do not look for the resolution here, God will not intervene on your behalf, not for any reason, not in this life…this is not to say that God does not love us, will not show us compassion and have mercy on us. God will, God loves us, but that mystery of our salvation will unfold beyond the worlds of time and space; have no fear.

Know this.

God is not a king and not a kingmaker, we are the kingmakers of the world, human beings following human machinations. It is we who crown kings, and it is kings who place the people in bondage. Therefore serve God freely, wisely, be honest and work with integrity; do this at all times.

Pay no attention to promises about the future of this world, our salvation takes place in eternity.

God, the creator of the universe, God is shepherd to us all,  and if we walk in the way of God, we will serve as shepherd to our sisters and brothers.

Be mindful.

Our time in this world is not the end of all things; it is transitory. If we are hungry, we are hungry only for a time; if we thirst, it is but for a moment. Our loneliness and sorrow, our anguish and despair, whatever it is that we experience as a lack this too will come to an end. When we cross the threshold into eternity we shall be transformed, and the good that fills us will find its fullness in everyone.

Trust in God and find peace therein.

It is not only because God loves you that God guides you; it is for God’s own sake that God blesses you. God made us, to be in relationship with us, for that is our greatest good. It is our greatest good, and God’s most exalted state.

Remember.

The power of sin and death are temporary, it is only God that endures forever, and we are the children of God, God dwells within us, and we within God who endures forever.

If God has set a table before you, share it with the world, turn enemies into friends and those who hate you into your beloved.

Here is the teaching of the apostle who says:

As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever; we are one in the Word of God, the divine Logos; who provides in the divine-self the reason and rationale for the entire creation. All things and beings come to be in and through God’s Word, God’s spirit infuses everything, without which there would be nothing at all

It is our task to teach this, as followers of the way.

Understand this.

The sheep do not choose the shepherd, but rather, it is the shepherd who chooses the sheep.

Christians look to Jesus and find in his teaching the shepherdship of the divine. God is the only shepherd, and there is just the one sheepfold, the world itself, and whether it make sense to us or not, it is to the divine shepherd that we all belong.

Hearken to the voice of the shepherd, and do not trouble yourself with how the shepherd speaks to you, in what language, in what text, through your sister or your brother, to your neighbors or the stranger. The shepherd is speaking to them to, and we all listen as we are able (or willing).

Everyone that is, everyone without exception, follows in the way of God, there is no other way. Do not trouble yourself if you do not understand the journey another person is on, God is guiding them, as God is guiding you. Their salvation is in God’s hands, not yours.

If you resist, God will be patient with you; God will wait for you, as God waits for everyone. For God is love, and love is patient, and love is kind. God is diligent and God is wise; God will not lose a single one of us. Neither will any one of us lose God, God is with is, in all times and places; there is no place where God is not.

Consider the gospel reading for today, it is a call to humility directed toward those who seek to be teachers of the faith: be humble, be steadfast. There will be many who hear the word, and show no interest in it. There will be other times when those who hear will hunger for it, crowds will gather, lives will be disrupted, the social order may go haywire. These moments must be handled with great care. Therefore be patient, be loving, be kind.

Lead the people in a spirit of humility; listen to them, they will tell you what they need, if you listen carefully they will inform you of what you need as well. A good teacher learns more from their students in a single hour of instruction, than their students learn from them.

If you should find yourself in the position of a pastor or priest, of a teacher of the faith, then be humble, be responsive, listen and learn, this is the way that fosters justice in the world.

 

First Reading – Jeremiah 23:1-6

I Will Gather Together the Remnant of My Flock and Raise Up Shepherds for Them

‘Doom for the shepherds who allow the flock of my pasture to be destroyed and scattered – it is the Lord who speaks! This, therefore, is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds in charge of my people: You have let my flock be scattered and go wandering and have not taken care of them.

  Right, I will take care of you for your misdeeds – it is the Lord who speaks! But the remnant of my flock I myself will gather from all the countries where I have dispersed them, and will bring them back to their pastures: they shall be fruitful and increase in numbers. I will raise up shepherds to look after them and pasture them; no fear, no terror for them any more; not one shall be lost – it is the Lord who speaks!

‘See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will raise a virtuous Branch for David, who will reign as true king and be wise, practising honesty and integrity in the land.

In his days Judah will be saved and Israel dwell in confidence.

And this is the name he will be called:

The-Lord-our-integrity.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22(23)

The Good Shepherd

The Prophets Foretold that the Saviour Would Be Born of the Virgin Mary.

Alleluia!

The Lord is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.

He has taken me to green pastures,

  he has led me to still waters;

  he has healed my spirit.

He has led me along right paths

  for his own name’s sake.

Even if I walk in the valley of the shadow of death,

  I shall fear no evil, for you are with me:

  your rod and your staff give me comfort.

You have set a table before me

  in the sight of my enemies.

You have anointed my head with oil,

 and my cup overflows.

Truly goodness and kindness will follow me

  all the days of my life.

For long years I shall live

  in the house of the Lord.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 2:13-18

Christ Jesus is the Peace Between Us

In Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God: in his own person he killed the hostility. Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand. Through him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the Lord, I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Mark 6:30-34 ©

They Were Like Sheep Without a Shepherd

The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. Then he said to them, ‘You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while’; for there were so many coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat. So they went off in a boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But people saw them going, and many could guess where; and from every town they all hurried to the place on foot and reached it before them. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length

 

A Homily – The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)