feasting on the word
"If you meditate on the Scriptures it will appear to you in its brilliant splendor." ―St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) Jeremiah 23:1-6 | Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 | Ephesians 2:13-18 | Mark 6:30-34 The underlying themes of 3Ps – piloting, peace, and prayer – flow though the Scripture readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. There was a busload of politicians driving down a country road, when all of a sudden, the bus ran off the road and crashed into a tree in an old farmer's field. Broderick, the old farmer, after seeing what happened, went over to investigate. He then proceeded to dig a hole and bury the politicians. A few days later, Officer Gaudencio, the local police chief came out, saw the crashed bus and asked peasant Broderick where all of the politicians had gone. He said he had buried them. Officer Gaudencio asked the old farmer, “Were they ALL dead?" Broderick replied, “Well, some of them said they weren’t, but you know how politicians lie!"
As Jeremiah reminds us, not all leaders have their people's best interests at heart. Too often, the ones who long to control others seize positions of leadership. They care nothing for the people's needs. Instead, they get carried away by their own power and their motives become selfish and warped. We all remember many such leaders and sadly recall the harm they have done to the innocent. As Jeremiah shows, leaders do not always lead for the common good. As we know from experience, leadership takes many forms, from outstanding to practically non-existent, with many levels in between. We can easily identify a good leader from a bad one. The people are like sheep without a shepherd. And this is also the reason for God's anger in our reading from Jeremiah where God denounces the "bad shepherds" who are not caring for the sheep. When authority is misused, the sheep are scattered, driven away, not cared for; the shepherd will be punished. God promises to chase away the bad shepherds who have been harming his flock, and then he is going to take over the job himself. The Lord himself will be our shepherd. All of us who exercise responsibility in various ministries in the Church, in family life, and in society, are called to imitate God's diligent, effective caring, by bringing people together, leading them and showing selfless concern for our subjects, rather than taking personal advantage of them. On January 1, 1993, Jaime Sin, former Cardinal Arcbishop of Manila, was visited by Sri Chinmoy, an Indian spiritual leader at EDSA Shrine. The "good Sin" jokingly confided to the humble guru, "This is the place to pray and worship, but people come to me only with their complaints." Then, the cardinal archbishop recollected, "We had a meeting in Japan and the one who represented the Hindu religion was the nephew of Mahatma Gandhi. And there was someone from the Muslim faith – the Executive General Secretary, who is living in Sri Lanka. The Dalai Lama was also there. We were talking about peace. In our talks there were no differences. Sri Chinmoy replied, "All roads lead to God's House. That is our destination. Although we may live in different houses, because we were born into different religions, our destination is the same." Cardinal Sin continued, "I said, 'We are all saying the same thing. Only your terminology is different.' They said, 'Yes, there is nothing different. We will all go to Heaven because we are all seeking peace.'" Sri Chinmoy replied, "Peace-dreamers, peace-lovers and peace-promoters are all in the same boat. So we are all in the same boat." To which Cardinal Sin replied, "'Blessed are the peace-makers because they will see the Face of God.' It is one of the Beatitudes. May God bless you and please bless me!" Our second reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians sums it up beautifully in that little turn of phrase: "For Christ is our peace. He who has made the two groups one people and has destroyed the barrier." In this very remarkable passage, the apostle Paul gives us the way of peace. He uses as an illustration the fact that Jesus Christ brought about reconciliation between ancient enemies — the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul says that the Jews were "near" and the Gentiles "far off." But by becoming Christians, the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians are no longer enemies but brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to underscore that the model of Church unity presented in the Scriptures is unity-in-diversity. In the church, there is neither Jew nor Gentile. The Jew does not have to become a Gentile; the Gentile does not have to become a Jew. The same is true of any other division among men. Ilocanos don't have to become Kapampangans, and Kapampangans don't have to become Ilocanos in the Church. Both can bring their own distinctive heritage to the church, and they don't have to give it up. The same is true of the poor and the rich. The poor don't have to live like the rich; the rich don't have to live like the poor. There can be different standards of living within the Church, but there is oneness, joy, and an acceptance of one another. The same is true between male and female. Males don't have to be female; females don't have to act like males. They both bring what they are, and they discover that there is oneness, fellowship, union, a beautiful relationship which ultimately has nothing to do with cultural heritage, economic status, or gender. If you are having a conflict with anybody right now – whether it is in your home, at your work, in your neighborhood, in the church, or in the world, Paul proposes to us what true peace really is. True peace is oneness. It is not merely the cessation of hostility, it is not the absence of conflict; it means being one. The story is told about two wives — Joanna and Jacquelyn — who were washing their dirty laundry in a Laundromat. They were both mending their husband's pants. Joanna said, "My husband is so miserable. Nothing goes right at work, and he can't find anything good in social media. Our home is a place of despair. When we go to church, the song leader is terrible and the priest only makes him mad or confused." Jacquelyn said "My husband is so excited." He can’t wait to go to church. He loves the sermons. We laugh all the time and enjoy our family. It got very quiet in the laundry room as the women continued sewing the pants. One was patching the seat of the pants, and the other was patching the knees. Time spent in prayer is never time wasted. Today's Gospel passage presents the sympathetic and merciful heart of Jesus who lovingly invites his apostles to a deserted place for some rest. Our Lord models for us the importance of frequent encounters with God the Father's love, a love which renews and refreshes us. Saint Teresa of Calcutta placed great value on the daily Holy Hour in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. She and her sisters depended upon this devotion to the Eucharist for the graces to accomplish their daily work among the poor. In fact, she attributed the success of their work and their growth in the Missionaries of Charity vocations to the many hours they spent in adoration. She said this about adoration: "Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. It will make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven. A Holy Hour of adoration helps bring everlasting peace to your soul and in your family. It brings us personal peace and strength. It brings us a greater love for Jesus, for each other, and for the poor. Every holy hour deepens our union with Him and bears much fruit." We all need a "deserted place" of our own, a place to take refuge in the presence and love of God the Father. Perhaps that place is your parish church, or an Adoration Chapel, or a prayer garden in your backyard. This should not only be a physical place, but also a "place" in our daily schedule. Are you a workaholic who is out "looking for manna" even on a sabbath? We are to be hardworking, but we all need rest. In today's scriptures, Jesus invites us, "Let's go off by ourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile." Are you rested enough to give God your best? <enrique,ofs>
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About JeffJeff Jacinto, PhD, DHum Archives
October 2024
|