July 17, 2009
Sunday Scripture
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
BY FATHER DONALD DILGER
In last Sunday’s gospel Jesus sends the twelve apostles on their first mission. Immediately after their departure and before their return, Mark inserts his version of the arrest and execution of John the Baptizer. The instruction seems to be that ministry in the name of Jesus includes the possibility of martyrdom. In today’s gospel reading the twelve apostles return from their mission. This sequel to last week’s gospel reading sets the stage for a five-Sunday departure from the Gospel of Mark to explore the sixth chapter of John’s gospel — the feeding of five thousand in the wilderness and the eucharistic discourse that follows it.
After the apostles return in today’s gospel, Jesus invites them to a retreat, “Come away by yourselves to a place in the wilderness and rest a while.” Their retreat, or could it be called a “sabbatical,” has to be cancelled. Mark writes, “People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to rest.” But there was a means of escape, so they thought. They got into a boat and rowed to a more deserted location. The people sensed where they would land and hurried there on foot, arriving at the place before Jesus and his apostles. What a lesson this story teaches for those who ignore both plea and commandment to participate in a Sunday Mass so that they can hear the word of God read and explained in community and experience Jesus, the Word of God. Not all depends on the priest and ministers at the altar. Those who come to participate must make their own effort, like the people who rushed to meet Jesus in today’s gospel.
Jesus and his group step on shore, where a huge crown was already assembled. Mark notes Jesus’ human compassion, “His heart was moved with compassion for them . . . .” What is compassion but sympathy and empathy. The German word, Mitleid, suffering together,” expresses it well. Mark’s Greek expression here indicates a deep internal commotion, a “gut feeling” on the part of Jesus. Thus is realized what the Letter to the Hebrews describes about Jesus as our high priest, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every way has been tried as we are . . . He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward . . .,” 4:15; 5:2.
Mark gives the reason for Jesus’ compassion, “. . . for they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Here we have strong echoes of the Old Testament. 1 Kings 22:17, “I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.” Besides our first reading today, Jeremiah 23:1-6, the strongest expression of sheep without a shepherd and the Lord’s compassion for them is found in Ezekiel 34. “The sheep were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. There was none to search or seek for them,” 34:5-6.
In view of what Jesus is about to do for the huge crowd of people, another quote from Ezekiel 34 is fitting, “I will gather my sheep. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel. I will feed them with good pasture. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I will seek the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the injured, strengthen the weak, and watch over the fat and the strong.” But before Jesus feeds the stomachs of the scattered sheep, he will feed them with his teaching. Mark writes, “And he began to teach them many things.” Here we have a pattern for our own liturgies, first the liturgy of the word, then the liturgy of the sacrament. “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall no want,” Psalm 23:1.
The shepherd/sheep theme of today’s gospel finds echoes in Jeremiah. This reading and Ezekiel 34 are the chief Old Testament foundations for Jesus as shepherd of the Christian community, his flock. Jeremiah, 626-580 B.C., rebukes the leaders of Israel. They are shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of the Lord. Therefore, “the Lord, the God of Israel, is against the shepherds . . . .” The Lord will become their shepherd, bringing them back to their meadow. Israel had for some centuries been afflicted with kings who were, for the most part, not good shepherds. Therefore, says Jeremiah, “The Lord will raise up a righteous Shoot to David, who shall reign and govern wisely.” Christians understood this passage of Jeremiah in reference to Jesus, whom the gospels call “Son of David.”
Ephesians is a circular letter, an encyclical, which seems to have been destined for all the Christian churches, especially those founded by Paul or his disciples. The letter celebrates the unity of Jew and Gentile (non-Jew) in the Body of Christ which is the Church. The blood of Christ, writes the author, has broken down the wall which divided Jew and Gentile. Thus, instead of having two divided communities antagonistic toward each other, both Jew and Gentile could be reconciled to God and be at peace with one another. Today we await the unity of Roman Caholic and Orthodox, the two communities designated by Pope John Paul II as “the two lungs with which the Church breathes.”