Shepherds dominate the readings today. I doubt many of us care to be thought of as sheep but God has good reason for comparing us to them. You really don’t have to go far to see sheep in action since they graze in the field across the street.
Sheep move about with their eyes to the ground, focusing on the patch of grass in front of them. The image of a sheep may be more fitting than we care to admit since we don’t always consider the consequences of our choices and actions before committing them. As we “eat” our way through life, all of us at one time or another stumble at times because we don’t see where we are going. God knows we need good shepherds to keep an eye on us and lead us safely through life.
Otherwise, we can easily go astray. At every stage of life, we need direction. A child needs the guidance of a parent. Students need the direction from their teachers, an employee needs the supervision of an employer, citizens need the vision of civic leaders from the White House down to city hall, and parishioners need the spiritual insight of church leaders from their pastors to the Holy Father.
We need good leaders, but as Jeremiah observes in the first reading, not every shepherd is to be trusted. He quotes God as chastising the leaders of ancient Israel for leading the people astray. “Woe to the shepherds who scatter the flock of my pasture….You have driven them away.”
You may think the message here is archaic and out of date, but what we hear is a mirror of our times as well. The shooting in a movie theater in Colorado early Friday morning that left 12 dead and 59 wounded is a stark reminder that our world is far from experiencing the reign of God. How do we make sense of this rampage? What prompted a young adult to throw two canisters of tear gas in a crowded theater and then begin shooting others in cold blood? What sense of right and wrong led him to do such carnage? What manner of conscience did he possess? A practical joke, this wasn’t.
Growing up, I learned the Ten Commandments and I imagine many of you did as well. They serve as a blue print for living the good life and for doing our part to build up God’s kingdom. But twenty years ago while teaching a class on scripture, I discovered that not all teens knew them. Not a single student could name all ten of them, much less in order. I left the classroom that day, wondering what did they use as a guide for discerning right from wrong or did they even care?
In the name of religious freedom, civil libertarians have sued to have any mention of God and the Ten Commandments removed from the public arena. Thus, prayer is not allowed in public settings nor is any mention of the very basis of our civil code, for doing so is seen as a violation of church and state.
Because of these societal changes, some argue that we have surrendered our fear of God. What happened in that movie theater was not unique. If you recall, a few miles away and a few years ago, two students went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School. Where was their fear of God? I doubt people would do such things if they truly understood the reality of hell and had a fear of God.
The founders of our country gave us a system of law based on Judeo-Christian values. A voluntary fear of God was the basis of civility in our society. The more internal restraints people have, the less need they have for external restraints. In other words, religion and morality were key to the founders’ vision for a civil society in America but do our contemporary shepherds believe that?
God knows that brokenness results from following false shepherds who lead people astray with false hopes. God’s promise of a shepherd who would govern wisely was fulfilled when Jesus arrived on the scene. In his wake, Jesus left us with the Church to serve as our spiritual shepherd.
Jesus also urges us, just as he urged the disciples, to come away to a deserted place and rest a while. In other words, we need to spend time each day in prayer, away from the distractions of our world and truly listen to what God has to say on the matter of what is right and what is wrong. Many people quit forming their consciences upon leaving school. With a poorly informed conscience, however, we can be easily persuaded by our peers to abandon the directives of the Ten Commandments and find ourselves lacking any fear of God. Civic leaders who have abandoned the principles of their faith in favor of certain laws are like false shepherds with an ill informed sense of right and wrong. Be leery of them!
Jesus urges us to get away from the daily activities of our lives to rejuvenate our spiritual well beings. The greatest opportunity we have for doing so is what we are doing now; celebrating Mass with scripture and the Eucharist. Alas, many Catholics fail to see its value or else they would be here with us. They have no fear of missing Mass even though we are obligated by the third Commandment to be here. When we ignore the opportunity to be in touch with the Good Shepherd, who then is taking his place to guide us?
As Jeremiah cautions, wrong leaders can lead innocent people astray. We see that happening in our society. When we regularly take time for prayer, we will find the grace to make the right choices on our daily journeys. In doing so, we will be on the right path and find ourselves truly rested in God’s presence.