Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
To understand today’s readings we must understand the context within which Jeremiah (today’s first reading) 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, many people 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…” (Mk 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 God to be “moved with pity” gives me strength to go on. I hope you too can find comfort in this very God.
2. So how is Jesus better than the shepherd of Israel who “misled and scattered 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 does what was right and just and teaches us to do what is right and just. 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. If each person in the world was moved with pity as Jesus was, could we imagine how good our world would be?
3. In this third point, I would like to draw your attention to another crucial ministry of Christ – the reconciling ministry. Paul in today’s second reading from Ephesians says, “For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh….” (Eph 2:14). Jesus is our peace. Not only did Jesus reconcile us with God by his sacrifice on the cross, but Jesus also reconciled those who believe in him. For believers in Christ nothing should matter except for the teachings of Christ. Race, status, nationality, wealth for believers should not matter for those who follow Christ. This is what Paul was trying to communicate to the Ephesians. The Ephesian community faced severe division between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Paul sees Christ, his sacrifice on the cross, and his teachings as the unifying factor. Today, more than ever, we need Christ’s reconciling ministry in our world. If we must continue the ministry of Christ, we must reject everything that tears us apart. Prejudice, egoism, self-centeredness, and indifference are contrary to the reconciling ministry of Christ. May we ourselves continue the reconciling ministry of Christ.
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