Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

To understand today’s readings we must understand the context within which Jeremiah prophesied. Jeremiah was called to be a prophet in the year 628 BC when Josiah was the King of Judah. Josiah began a process of reform that would rid the nation of idolatry, injustice and false religiosity. Jeremiah wholeheartedly supported Josiah’s reform. After Josiah, however, under King Zedekiah, the false prophet Hananiah began to counsel the King to revolt against the Babylonians. It was also at this time that the old idolatry and infidelity returned. On instruction from God Jeremiah opposed the King and the false prophet. As a result, Jeremiah was arrested, imprisoned, and publicly disgraced. Had Zedekiah listened to Jeremiah and stayed faithful to the covenant, perhaps, Judah would be spared. Tragically, the Babylonians pillaged Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, killed thousands of Israelites, took into exile all able bodied men, women, and children, and left behind to die, the aged and disabled. It was in this context the Jeremiah preached the words we hear in today’s first reading. “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture…” (Jer 23:1). But then, the hope in Jeremiah’s prophecy lies in these words:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;
as king he shall reign and govern wisely,
he shall do what is just and right in the land.
This is the name they give him:
"The LORD our justice." (Jer 23:5-6)

This prophecy is fulfilled in today’s gospel reading. Jesus, “the Lord our Justice” came to the same devastated Israel, only now, humiliated by the Romans. Except for John the Baptist who was put to death by Herod, there were no prophets, no religious leaders with God’s vision, and no authority to lead Israel in God’s ways. Yes, they were like “sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 6:34). Jesus came as the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy. The history, of course, of this new chapter is as tragic as the one of Jeremiah. Israel rejected Jesus more vehemently than it did the prophet Jeremiah. In spite of this rejection, most in the world today accept the most revolutionary, the most heart changing, the most challenging, the most redeeming teachings of the man and son of God we know as Jesus. The world is not like a sheep without a shepherd anymore. The Lord our Justice is here. As God whose heart is “moved with compassion" (Mk 6:34), Jesus leads us to eternity.

Let me offer three practical implications:

1. Let me begin my first practical implication with the last idea. That “his (Jesus’) heart was moved with pity for them…” (Mks 6:34), that Jesus was moved to the core, that he felt sadness in his guts, that his heart hurt, that he was affected in his very being at the plight of the people is a deeply comforting thought. Our God is not some impersonal, platonic being sitting on high with a ruthless sense of righteousness. Our God can feel our feelings. Our God laughs with us, cries with us, walks with us, talks with us, loves us, even dies for us. If we could turn to each other and tell our stories, we would find among us people who hurt because of illness, old age, abuse, broken relationships, financial burdens, and just plain meaninglessness. As a priest, I hurt too – when my sins come in the way of being a shepherd like Jesus, when my loneliness overwhelms me, when I miss my family in India, when I am frustrated with my failures, when I find it difficult to forgive myself. Just to know that my condition makes my God to be “moved with pity” gives me strength to go on.

2. So how is Jesus better than the shepherds of Israel who “mislead and scatter the flock?” (Jer 23:1). As Jeremiah prophesied, Jesus came to lead us “to do what is right and just in the land.” (Jer 23:5) Jesus communicates to us God’s will in all its radicalness. Jesus teaches us to love God beyond human imagination and to love others in the same way. He teaches us to abandon our lives into the hands of God. He teaches us not to hate our enemies but to pray for them, do good to them, and love them. He teaches us not to pick up the sword but to lay it down. He teaches us not to count the cost but to give beyond measure. He teaches us to forgive the unforgiveable, to love the sinner, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the prisoner and home the homeless. In other words, we must now be “moved with pity.” (Mt 6:34). Our shepherd leads us to be “moved with pity ourselves.

3. We are in the midst of much, economic, political, religious and social chaos. Think of the economic crisis, for example. Think also of the child abuse crisis in the church. I can hear Jeremiah say today, “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture…” (Jer 23:1). Who can help the scattered flock? There are all kinds of political, economic, social and political debates raging in our society about the solutions to the chaos. Each political party, different economists, and church leaders of all spectrums tell us that if we follow them we will be fine. Each political party, different economists, and church leaders of all spectrums tell us that if we follow them we will be fine. And I am saying that neither the left or the right, neither liberals nor conservatives, neither socialists nor capitalists, neither progressives nor traditionalists can lead us to where Christ wants to take us. Only Christ’s radical message of love, forgiveness, compassion, selflessness and life can bring us hope. We must allow ourselves to moved in our hearts with Christ’s message.

As we come to celebrate this Eucharist, Christ comes to us as one who is moved with compassion and love. Today, let us allow ourselves to be led by Christ. And moved with the very compassion of Christ, let us bring love, hope and salvation our world. Amen.

- Fr. Satish Joseph