Schooler's Sagacity and Senility: Homilies from Fr. Bill

 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

18 JULY 2021

 

          Jeremiah criticizes kings and prophets who are too intent on taking care of their own needs and ignoring those of the people.  Using the image of shepherds, who gave themselves completely to the care of their flocks, Jeremiah promises that God will raise up shepherds who will care for their people.  That shepherd will be the ideal king, a righteous shoot to David.

            Saint Mark sees Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of that prophecy.  Last Sunday, Jesus sent out the twelve to proclaim his divine authority to those who will hear them.  Today, they report to Jesus all that they had done and taught.  Modeling the pattern of healthy ministry, Jesus invites the workers to take time to rest in a deserted place.  In that place of rest, he will instruct them about his identity and his shared mission with them. 

            However, he finds a vast crowd waiting in that deserted place.  Jesus, the Good Shepherd, takes pity on them.  His pity is a deeply felt gut reaction to their plight.  He sees that they are like sheep without a shepherd.  Instead of complaining about being robbed of a well-deserved rest, he tends to their needs and teaches them.  He gives himself to them, as he will give his entire life to all in his death on the cross.

            In his pity for the crowd, the Good Shepherd teaches us how to be compassionate.  First, he sees their need.  We need a compassionate eye to see the needs of people we encounter.  For example, we are stopped at a traffic light on Indiana 23 to see a panhandler holding a crudely made sign asking for money.  It is easy to pretend that we do not notice.   Instead, we can at least look the person in the eye and have compassion.  Whether we give the person a gift card stored in the glove compartment or even a portion of the groceries we just bought at Martin’s, at least we can see that the person is human and have compassion.

            Once we see the suffering of another person, we can express our compassionate heart.  When Jesus has pity for the crowd, it is not just an emotion of feeling sorry for them.  The English word “compassion” comes from the Latin words:  cum passio (to suffer with).  If we have true compassion for others, we are willing to enter into their pain and suffering.

            With a compassionate heart, we can re-vision another reality for the suffering person.  The compassion of Jesus allows him to see the potential for this hungry crowd to become part of the Kingdom of God in their midst.  In 1958, a six-year-old African-American girl named Ruby Bridges was escorted every day by Federal marshals to a court-ordered school.  Each day, she passed hecklers at the schoolyard gate who shouted horrible things.  One day, Ruby appeared to be talking to the crowd.  When asked by her psychologist what she was saying, she said, “I wasn’t talking to them.  I was praying for them.  They need praying for.  That’s what God would want me to do.”  At the age of 6, she had a vision.

            Finally, we can turn our compassionate hearts into action.  Jesus not only teaches the crowd.  He feeds 4,000 of them with five loaves and two fish.  When we turn our compassion into action, we can live in a confessional way.  We can confess that God is the only one with power to turn our lives and the lives of others around.  Mother Theresa was asked how she could keep on caring for the poor in Calcutta when there were so many of them.  She answered, “All I can do, all any of us can do, is the best we can, for the most we can, for as long as we can.”

            Saint Paul expresses his vision to the Ephesians that the divisions between Gentile and Jewish converts within the Body of Christ could be healed.  His vision endures for us.  We too can begin to heal the many divisions within our society and our Church by regarding others with compassion, especially those with whom we disagree and those who feel alienated.