Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 7/18

Today Jesus calls his people something that many would dislike: sheep. He looked at them with pity and says that they were like sheep without a shepherd. In our polarized political climate, the term is at times used as an insult, usually by a more “enlightened” person criticizing the following of a leader or group without good use of the intellect. This situation tends to be ironic  however, as the more “enlightened” one is often committing the act he is criticizing—even if unwilling to recognize it.

But whether we like to recognize it or not, there is good reason that the Gospel compares us to sheep. Sheep have a bad sense of direction, are easily fooled, and they tend to follow the herd— even if the herd is running towards its own destruction. Without the shepherd, the sheep are completely lost and defenseless. Jesus points out a fact that is crucial for our more
“enlightened” minds to understand: WE NEED A SHEPHERD. We can ignore this reality all we want, but in the end the human being always follows someone or something. Bishop Fulton Sheen puts it this way:

Every person gives away his freedom. Some give it to public opinion, some become slaves of their own passions, some give it away to the dictators of the State, but some give their freedom to God.

In the first reading today we see the frustration of God the Father because the Israelites have followed so many people who have led them astray—false shepherds. And out of the love he has for his people, he makes them a promise saying, “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and I will bring them back to their meadow.”

This scripture passage is fulfilled in the Gospel today. Jesus, the Emmanuel, is the promised shepherd of God-made-man who has come to lead his people to truth, goodness, and the freedom of the children of God. In this pool of shepherd voices competing for our freedom, let us consider well which shepherd we will follow.

Michael Gokie, SCV