16th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)
Scriptures: Jer. 23:1-3, 3-4, 5,6; Ps. 23: 1-6; Eph. 2:13-18 and Mark 6:30-34
Some years ago, in a parish, I was working with some parishioners preparing for the Christmas celebrations. Every group was assigned a job, however, at the last moment, one of the groups backed out due to some internal misunderstanding between the members. The leader of the group informed me that they were not able to do the work. It was a critical task to make the celebration meaningful. I asked another group who had finished their work to do that pending job. One of them, who was very hardworking and sincere, raised a question at once; how much should we do? Why should we do it when someone has failed to do it? This is a common peculiar human behaviour to question how much and how long?
In today’s liturgy, we examine this question. In the first reading, Prophet Jeremiah who lived 600 years before Christ, talks about God sending a new shepherd. He prophesied during the time of King Zedekiah in the kingdom of Judah. The king relied much on human strengths and political strategies rather than trusting in the Lord. The king had forgotten his main task was to lead people to God. However, he allied with Egypt, since he believed in the strength of the horses and chariots of Egypt. The prophets and leaders of the community supported the wrong policies of the king. The whole community was living in error yet God reassured people through Prophet Jeremiah that he would give them a new shepherd, a new leader who would show God’s care and concern for them. God selflessly comes to help the people of Israel like the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23).
The image of the shepherd was prominent in the mind of people. They always considered God as their shepherd. The first two kings namely Soul and David were shepherds. They had a new task of shepherding the people of Israel. The primary task was leading people to God, but it did not happen. They looked after themselves. They made people serve themselves. The purpose of appointing them as shepherds were defeated.
God re-worked the plan. Jesus is the new shepherd who was promised in the first reading. He completes the vision of the psalm. He lived selflessly for others. His selflessness in the Gospel of Mark has a profound message because Jesus was rejected at every stage by different people in the Gospel. The animosity lasted when they crucified Him on the cross. But their animosity did not deter Jesus from showing his compassion to everyone who came to him. If we carefully examine today’s Gospel, there are three acts of Jesus being a compassionate towards his people and his disciples.
Firstly, he sends his disciples on a mission to preach the Good News and cure the sick. We heard it last Sunday. Secondly, he shows concern towards the disciples because they had worked hard while they were out on their mission, so He wanted them to rest for a while. And thirdly, he moved with compassion for people who even followed him to a deserted place. He, instead of sending them away, preached the Good News to them and satisfied their thirst for the Word of God. He healed them from dreaded diseases. Jesus was truly a man of compassion; a man for others. He did not spare anything for himself. He gave himself completely for mankind.
Therefore, we can rightly interpret that Jesus fulfills the prophecy of a Good Shepherd. St. Paul recognized Jesus as the Good Shepherd. He claims in the second reading that the blood of Jesus reconciled the Jews and the gentiles for eternity. They began to worship one living God in the person of Jesus Christ. It was impossible and unbelievable before Christ. The Jews always separated themselves from the rest of the people. They always considered themselves to be the most favoured by God. The temple wall was the symbol of separation. Each person according to their statuses such as the gentile, the women, the men, priest and the high priest could access the temple. The gentiles were least among them all. Jesus gathered everyone together irrespective of cast, creed, language, sect, etc. This is the compassion of Jesus to bring all men together to worship one God.
Jesus showed compassion because he lived selflessly. His death on the cross is a sign of his selfless love. It was his defeat and gain for his enemy. After the resurrection, the disciples realized the significance of the suffering and the death of Jesus in their lives. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit imitated Jesus by selflessly working to spread the good news of Jesus. They became the new shepherd after the heart of Jesus. Most of them shared even blood for their flock and died as martyrs.
We are also called to be compassionate shepherds in our respective families, communities, societies, or workplaces. We might have been like the group of people who felt that they had to work extra all the time. At times, the others might have taken us for granted. We might have been used by some for their gain. We might have grumbled and said how much and how long? Jesus calls us to be compassionate in all circumstances. This is the way to establish the kingdom of God here on earth. May we imitate Christ in showing compassion to others.
