+ Our readings today are about “shepherding” and “being
shepherded.” So often we understand the need for good
shepherds, especially as when the term is used to describes the bishops and
priests of the church. But, good shepherds need to have “good sheep” willing to
listen to them, and follow them, to help them navigate through the twists and
turns and surprises of any given day.
We are assured in the first
reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, that God always has been, and
always will be the Chief Shepherd who will sooner or later assign whoever he
wants to shepherd his sheep – the people he loves so much – giving them
“shepherds after his own heart.”
And so, this put two
obligations squarely in play: the
obligation for the chosen shepherd to keep himself as pure and selfless as can
be so that God can indeed work and shepherd through him, and the obligation of the sheep to discern the
validity and authenticity of the shepherd and then to follow the voice of the
good shepherd.
This has a lot to do with the
second reading for today: the gospel passage about the sowing of the seed, which changes the metaphor but not the
message. The seed sown is the teaching and preaching of the shepherds. The goal
of a good ecclesiastical shepherd is to “scatter as much seed as he can” – as
much information about the personal relationship with God that is now accessible
and readily available through Jesus Christ – his Love and his Truth made into a
human being like us in all things but sin.
But again, it is up to the
sheep, or in this case the ground, to receive the seed and by actively
cooperating in the lessons taught in the teaching and preaching – put into
action what is heard – thus producing fruit a thirty, sixty or a hundredfold,
in the most ideal conditions.
Our world today – peppered as
it is day in and day out by the overt works of Satan – is very much “challenged
ground” for receiving the message of salvation, freedom and peace – goodness,
truth and right living. And so, it means that we as Christians need to delve
more and more deeply into the teaching and lessons of the Church as promulgated
by the bishops and priests, especially in their writings and even internet
presences to shore up our bombarded and weary spirits.
The
time is now to seek an oasis, to seek a place of quiet, a time of quiet, so
that the supernatural processes can work as they were meant: to make us
ambassadors for Christ in a post-Christian world – and I
am talking about places like our very own monastic retreat that exists in the
heart of bustling and very busy Glen Allen, VA.
Let us “step up to the plate”
today, to use a third metaphor – and, keeping our eye on the ball pitched to us
– God’s word and message – and “hit one out of the ballpark” – by being used perhaps
in a totally surprising way for the good of another today, wherever the day
takes us! We are here to make each other’s day – and to march ever more
steadily and happily to the new heavens and the new earth that awaits – and
which could be right around the corner.
Blessed
are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest
through perseverance.
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