Sunday Reflections

Sixteenth Sunday of the Year July 18, 2021

Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34

Image courtesy: Mangalore Diocese 

It was a joyous occasion. Every member of the family and a host of special friends had gathered on the lawns of the bungalow to celebrate the parents’ wedding anniversary. As would be expected, the mother had brought out her best crockery, reserved only for occasions such as these. There was a tray full of used teacups, made of fine china with exquisite designs on them, lying on a side table. The mother signalled one of her daughters and requested her to carry it over to the kitchen. The daughter immediately obliged, but in her hurry to get the job done, she missed a step while entering the house. The crockery spilled over the tray and crashed on the floor. The girl was stunned. Her mother would kill her now, she thought, shaking with nervousness. There were tears in her eyes as she quickly collected the broken bits into the tray and went to the kitchen. Though terrified, she decided that she had to tell her mother. Putting on a brave front she went up to her mother and confessed how she had broken the treasured crockery. To her utter surprise, her mother remained calm. With a reassuring smile on her face, she simply asked, "Are you hurt?" When she replied she wasn’t, the mother said, "Then I’m not worried, dear. I can replace the crockery, but I can’t replace you!"

As we read the Gospel, it gives us a picture of a leader. Generally, a leader is considered as one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. In the ordinary world, the type of leadership varies depending on the situation, be it political, military, institutional, or sports. In Jesus, we have a leader of a unique type.  He was a person who was people-oriented with human concern at the same time with divine understanding. He leads people by being with them and at the same time shows the way through his care and concern.  Mark tells us that people were going and coming constantly and they had no time for anything even to eat. For Jesus, the religious leader’s life is a series of goings from the presence of people to the presence of God and back again.  But he knew that there are dangers in each of the alternatives. One can spend too much time in the activities of people and thus gradually lose the vision of God. 

No matter what idea we have about a good leader we will see the total application of it in Jesus. To bring together people he gave his life on the cross and he asked his disciples to sacrifice themselves just like he did. By dying on the cross he broke all barriers and divisions in the world and opened a new way for the church.  Today the church is called upon to live this call to leadership and proclaim the message of love and service to all.  Hence Jesus told his disciples that with him the leadership is combined with service and he washed the feet of his disciples to prove the type of leadership he practiced. We need to pray that our Church today may be truly effective, responsible, and compassionate to all and show leadership like Jesus.  At the same time, we need also to pray for other leaders in the world, including parents and teachers who are in many ways responsible for influencing the lives of others. There are political leaders who have the responsibility to lead the people to achieve a greater good. The Lord is our Good Shepherd who wishes to lead us on the right path.

In the First Reading of today, Prophet Jeremiah has strong words for shepherds or the leaders who had been irresponsible and who let their flocks be scattered and destroyed. In the ancient world kings often accepted the title shepherd and the subjects were sheep under their care. Here Jeremiah was addressing the religious leaders of his own time and told them that they did not recognize as rulers of God’s people their first responsibility was to lead the people close to God.

In the Second Reading of today, Paul reminds the Ephesians converts that Jesus brought unity of brotherhood between the Jews and the Gentiles to form them into one family. Under the old dispensation, a Jew could not associate with a Gentile. Now Christ has brought peace to all Jews and Gentiles who accept him as their master. He broke down the barrier that divided them, a barrier symbolized by a wall in the Temple. In fact, the Temple was a building of many walls, each one marking off-limits beyond which certain people could not go. There was a wall for Gentiles, beyond that a wall for women, a wall for men, and a wall for priests. There was even a barrier into the Holy of Holies into which only the High Priest could go once a year.

It is in Jesus that we all have a good shepherd. As the psalmist tells us that he leads me to the green pastures and gives my soul repose. In the Gospel Jesus actualises the promises of old. He asks the disciples to rest for a while after their busy schedule in preaching the Kingdom of God. Jesus unites us as a shepherd and therefore let us remain united in him as his faithful and one flock. 

(You are most welcome to add your thoughts and reflections in the comment section below)

Happy Sunday