Hope for the Sheep

Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

7.21.24

In a presidential election year, politics take center stage in the United States and surely captures our attention and rightly so. Before, during, and even after the day itself, there is divisiveness, differing opinions, and surely questions, realquestions:

Which side is correct? Does a "lesser of two evils" exist?

Will the selected leader take the country in the right direction—politically, economically, ideologically, and morally?

If you have found yourself lamenting your choice of national leaders, rest assured that you join a long tradition of such lament. Did you hear what was proclaimed in the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah? The passage today is set within the larger pericope, which focuses on the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BCE. In particular, Chapters 21-23 emphasize that the various institutional and national leaders of the time — especially the kings, the priests, and the prophets — failed the people of Judah during a time of catastrophic national crisis.

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!

Blame clearly rests here on the shepherds, a well-known metaphor for kings in both the larger ancient Near Eastern world and biblical texts. These verses anticipate the exile, blaming the kings for "scattering" Yahweh's people because the kings-as-shepherds failed to attend to and care for the people-as-shepherds.

Yet, while our passage begins with pessimism and an ominous indictment for the shepherds, it moves forward with hope for the sheep. Yahweh promises, I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

Note here that only a "remnant" of the flock remains, another indication of how badly the shepherds have been tending their flock. Scholars frequently note that once the "remnant" is returned home to the land, the passage invokes the language of Genesis and promises to the ancestors that the people will be fruitful and multiply.

These verses promise rescue and deliverance and a prosperous future for the people, even as Yahweh "attends" to the kings in judgment. Moreover, these verses promise that God will act without any intercessor—without king, priest, or prophet—to bring the remaining sheep out of exile and bring them home.

In this moment, we can believe that God acts to bring the people back to him—in Jesus, his son. He sends his very best, his own son, to rescue and deliver, to bring those who have been exiled, who are on the outside, abused, uncared for, and neglected by the shepherds. He sends us Jesus, and he challenges us to be like Jesus. Jesus, the greatest leader to ever walk the face of the earth, broke the leadership mold. He was different than any leader before or after him. We need more leaders to lead like Jesus.

The other day, I was cleaning my office and came across this book, Lead Like Jesus. It's helpful and pertinent to our reflection on the Scriptures today. Do you want to lead like Jesus? Here are some tips:

1. Sacrifice Yourself

Many of today's leaders have egos so big it's a wonder they can walk through a door. But Jesus, the Son of God, humbled himself to die in our place on the cross. Leading like Jesus starts with humility and self-sacrifice.

2. Serve People

Leaders are often lured by the power and privilege of leadership. They want to lead so that people will serve them. If we are self-serving, we aren't leading like Jesus. To lead like Jesus, we must start putting others ahead of ourselves.

3. Develop Leaders

Some leaders want to hire leaders but don't want to develop them. But Jesus recruited raw leaders and invested in their development. The disciples often made mistakes, but Jesus didn't fire them when they messed up. He used their mistakes as opportunities to teach. We are called to do the same.

4. Rest Often

Too many leaders parade their work hours like a medal of honor. It's not uncommon to hear them brag about 60+ hour work weeks and pulling all-nighters. But the grueling pace of many leaders leads them to moral failure, health failure, and broken families. Jesus worked hard, but he knew when to rest. It's what the Gospel speaks of today!

5. Press On

In our modern world of viral videos, get-rich-quick schemes, and microwaved results, many leaders demand immediate success. So, when things get too hard, they bail on their team for a more promising opportunity. But Jesus persevered through suffering. Though he was sweating blood, he pressed on because he knew the mission.

6. Speak Candidly

Today's leaders can sometimes speak out both sides of their mouths. They say one thing publicly but another privately. We can be afraid to say what we think, so we soften our words and sometimes don't say what we mean. But Jesus spoke with candor. He didn't hide his true thoughts for fear of hurting someone's feelings. Candor is a lost art in our society. It doesn't mean being rude or cold-hearted; surely some thoughts are better kept to ourselves. But if we want to lead more like Jesus, don't sugarcoat conversations. Speak the truth in love, even when it stings.

7. Choose Integrity

Many leaders have a secret. They tell a lie, have an addiction, manipulate their followers, cut a corner, or live a secret life when nobody is looking. It's why there is less and less confidence and trust in leaders, and people always want to ask, what's the real story? What happens behind the scenes? But Jesus had nothing to hide. There was no scandal—no need for a coverup. Trust takes a lifetime to build and only a second to lose. We need to strive to be high-integrity leaders like Jesus.

As we ponder the big questions in life, and perhaps more specifically, even the political ones, we can and should turn to God's word for guidance... who will lead like Jesus? And more personally, how can we? RSM

Our Unique Christian Character

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

6.16.24

As someone who tries to follow Jesus, did you ever think that if only Jesus had provided a blueprint, a constitution, or at least some kind of brochure, it would be so much easier, perhaps at least a bit clearer?

We know that that's not the case. In a way, we really shouldn't be surprised because, for those of you who are fathers, you also know that on the birth of your firstborn, they did not come with an instructions manual either. You had to do the best you could with what you knew, and when the challenges got beyond you, you reached out to others with more experience for guidance and assistance.

That's really the nature of the Christian life: we do the best we can with what we know, and when we get into muddy waters or the unknown, we reach out to others, perhaps with more experience, for guidance and assistance. The challenge is that today, life has gotten more and more complicated, so even for the best among us, we often struggle in our attempts to follow the Lord and truly live authentically good Christian lives.

The Gospel today talks about the Kingdom of God. If we could understand precisely what he meant by the kingdom and knew where it would be found and how we could be certain to be part of it, we might have an easier go of it, but he didn't. Instead of the straight descriptive answers we often times crave, we get oblique and even startling parables–what some people call sorta-like stories. A zebra is sorta like a horse, but not really, almost, but not quite.

Today's Gospel reading features two stories pointing to the reign of God. One turns on the everyday mystery of growing seed, and the other about the mustard plant shrieks with exaggeration and incongruity. This chapter concludes with the statement that Jesus taught only in parables, but then he explained everything in private to his disciples. If only he would do the same for us!

Despite their simplicity and commonness, especially for the people of the day, these parables can leave us puzzled about how to understand the kingdom of God in light of our everyday life and the challenges of our day. I'm sorry to tell you that these parables do not offer an easy take-home message. They ask that we engage our imaginations to follow the possibilities and incongruities that distinguish a world where everything is planned, linear, and logical from one filled with mysteries and surprises into which a sovereign God invites us to live.

Our life's work is to fully develop our unique Christian character. Our faith tells us that Christ has redeemed us to conform us to His image. The end goal of the work of redemption is God's glory.

According to the Scriptures, Christian character includes the pursuit of truth, godliness, righteousness, love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, patience, perseverance, meekness, humility, self-control, compassion, thankfulness, forgiveness, contentment, and unity. God produces Christian character in our lives as believers through faith in Christ, in the power of the Spirit, by the Word of God, and in the sacraments. We know that suffering is also an essential part of the process of forming our Christian character.

So, perhaps in these quiet days, we can all take a breath, take a self-assessment of our Christian character, and see where we are doing well and where we need work. Authentic self-improvement of our Christian character is a lifelong journey, but it starts every day with the first step.

Blessings!

RSM

Ambassadors for Unity

Do you ever think about the devil? What do you believe about the devil? And where did you learn about the devil?

Under different names, Satan, Lucifer, and the Devil, the most popular explanation maintains that he is a fallen angel tempted by pride. He is said to be a seducer originally created as good and whose rebellion against the divine will is reflected in the temptation he offered to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden – the passage we heard today.

Given the entire garden and its gifts and forbidden only from eating from a tree with mystic powers for the knowledge of good and evil, our first parents chose to listen to the tempter. Like him, they revolted, seeking to be like God. Sin, suffering, and death were thus inserted into the creation story—stemming like a spiritual virus that had its inception in the original rebellion of Lucifer and the other fallen spirits.

The authors of Genesis seem to have had no problem describing the first sin without blaming it on the devil. There is no indication in the story that the serpent was anything more to them than a talking snake. Interestingly, Satan as a character doesn’t appear in the Bible until the Book of Job, where he is portrayed as a servant rather than an enemy of God. By Jesus’ time, the devil had become the explanation for all that went wrong in the world.

One of the attributes that we hear of the devil is chaos. Ever since the fall from heaven, some believe that Satan seeks to divide the world. His first action was to divide the angels, followed by tempting Adam and Eve in the garden, driving a wedge between the first humans and God.

Division is the devil’s playground, and it shouldn’t be surprising. The word “devil” comes from the Greek word diabolos, which can be translated as “to divide,” “to separate,” or more literally, “to throw against.”

While you might think that this is more of a mythical reflection than a homily, Pope Francis has spoken much about the devil and this tactic of division. Divisions are a handy weapon that the devil uses even to destroy the Church. He has two weapons, but the main one is division. And this is where I think our modern-day reflection on the devil can be fruitful.

We live in a world that is ripe with division. News articles discuss the deep divides in societies the world over. Whether the division occurs in politics, education, religion, or culture, every side has strong proponents and equally strong opponents. Why are people so deeply divided? And is there a solution?

Divisions are as old as mankind. Disagreements about who the leader should be, who has water and grazing rights, on whose property is the well, where the property boundary line is, and which god should be worshipped all go back to antiquity.

Taxes have long been a source of division, leading to conflict and, ultimately, to war. Throughout recorded history, we find many deep divides that led to wars. Even when one side prevailed and destroyed the other side, the “winning side” still suffered losses.

Today’s world is no different. Our headlines tell of the deep political divides between liberals and conservatives, between government and the governed, between “haves” and “have-nots,” between inner city and urban, and between religions, cultures, races, and ethnicities. We continue to witness such divides that often lead to heated rhetoric, contention, and outbreaks of violence. This occurs on college campuses, at town hall meetings, during political rallies, in the midst of demonstrations in the public square, and sadly, even in our Church.

People are divided on so many issues that you can mention any subject, and there will be people on both sides of the issue. A thinking person may ask, “Where is God in all this? Why is there so much division in the world? Didn’t Jesus come to bring unity?”

Listen to the Scriptures:

I pray not only for them but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one, as we are one (John 17:20-22).

So, what does this all say to us? What are the practical lessons we can take away this weekend?

1. Fight against division because it is one of the weapons that the devil uses to destroy. Whenever we see division in the world, especially division that pits one group in society against another, we can affirm that the devil is behind it in some way. He wants us to destroy ourselves, and hatred against other people is one of the fastest ways we become the authors of our own demise.

2. Be ambassadors for unity because it reflects the presence of God in our midst. The Holy Trinity is the prime example of unity and communion, something we will ultimately participate in if we reach heaven someday. Heaven will essentially be “communion,” where we are unified not only with God but also with each other.

3. Above all, we need to strive for unity in truth, coming together to fight against injustices with charity. If we can stay united together under the leadership of Jesus, we will be able to thwart the plans of the devil.

The Gospel of Mark says pointedly:

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand (Mark 3:24-25).

Perhaps this week, we can take some time to see where we are in conflict with someone else. And more importantly, maybe we can take some time in prayer and reflection to ask God to help us find the path to greater unity.

One final note. Recently, I received a beautiful note from someone who is moving out of Summit to a new location and, subsequently, a new parish. Among other things, the letter says: I will miss you, Monsignor Bob. I will miss the stained glass and the choir. I will miss the baptisms, friends, and neighbors. Hopefully, we will find a kinder spiritual home for our family.

But amid all the nice things written in the three-page letter, it notes that at times, as a family in this parish, they suffered from being the subject of gossip. Friends, there is no more practical example of the work of Satan than gossip ... Enough said!