[stephenkhoo]

22 July, 2012, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
BEING GOOD SHEPHERDS IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: JER 23:1-6; EPH 2:13-18; MK 6:30-34

Today many people are looking for shepherds in their lives. This is because many people lack direction. They do not have a sense of meaning. They live from day to day, going through their routines. They have no motivation, no goal nor purpose. This is true for both old and young. Quite often old people would tell us, “I’m old and useless, there is no more meaning in life. It is better to die.” But today even the young and not so young feel that way too. Many feel that life is a burden. They are headless.

However, they are not only headless but are heartless too. Many people are seeking for true love. Many suffer from abandonment, loneliness and neglect. Others suffer from injustices, disappointments, betrayals and unforgiveness. They feel that their lives are empty and meaningless. For such people, there is also no reason to live. It is bad enough to be headless, that is, not living for a cause or a mission; but to be heartless, that is, having no one to live for, then life is truly meaningless. That is why some people who suffer from broken relationships prefer to end their lives than to carry on even though they may be very successful in their career.

Yes, it is to such people that the Lord is sending us to be shepherds. Who are called to be shepherds? Firstly, shepherds are those who lead the flock. Hence, we are called to be signposts for these people, to give them meaning, a mission and a cause. But shepherds not only lead, but they also take care of the flock. This, then, is the second duty of shepherds. This means that we are called to give people a heart of love for humankind and for God, for only those who are able to love can truly live. This is the ultimate reason if one is to continue living because a day will come when we are old, then we are no longer productive to society. But this does not mean the end of us because so long as we can love, there is a reason for us to live.

But the primary purpose of shepherds is to make the community united as a family. This precisely was the mission of Jesus. It is the mission of unity. We are told in the second reading that Christ has destroyed the barriers between and among human beings. All are now brought together in Christ, uniting all in a single Body and reconciling them with God. This, in the final analysis, is what a shepherd is called to do. He is called to bring about a new order, a new creation when all are one in God. This is our ultimate goal and vision. In this way, the promise of Jeremiah in the first reading is fulfilled, “See, the days are coming … I will raise a virtuous Branch for David, who will reign as true king, practising honesty and integrity in the land … Judah will be saved and Israel dwell in confidence.”

But how can this come about unless we take upon ourselves the role of shepherd. All of us are called to be good shepherds, regardless of who we are. No one is exempted from this call to be shepherds of God. We cannot say that we are too young or old or too sick to do anything. For so long as we can give meaning or hope to people, then we are playing the role of shepherd. Those who are healthy and looking after the sick can, with their counsel and encouragement, give the aged and the sick meaning in their old age. And those who are sick and old, by their cheerfulness and wisdom, can inspire the healthy, the helpers and the young in their works of love and service. No one must be left out in the new community of God’s kingdom. Everyone must have a place in the community of the Redeemed. This is what it means to be Catholic, namely, that the Church is universal without boundaries regardless of race, status and language.

Unfortunately, instead of being good shepherds to each other, we only care for ourselves. We do not provide people with direction, vision nor with love. We do not seek to build unity and realize the dream of God in Jesus for the whole of humankind. Instead, we behave like the kings of Judah. They too were bad shepherds because they were inward-looking, selfish, mindless, headless; dividing their own people, allowing their flock to be scattered as they failed to take care of them. Instead of looking out for the weak and the wounded, bad shepherds only serve those that can feed their needs and satisfy their interests.

But why are we like them? I believe that the very fact we can condemn the shepherds of Judah in the first reading implies that we all want to be good shepherds. But we find it so difficult to be good shepherds. We want to give vision and hope to people who are forlorn, hopeless and helpless. We want to give love, attention and care to those who are lonely, sick, unwanted and neglected. But quite often we find ourselves lacking hope and motivation in our own lives. Quite often too, even when we do works of charity, we get impatient with those whom we are serving, be they the old, the sick or people of our own kind. We lack understanding and generosity. We become calculative and think in terms of our rights, our wages, and our benefits. In a word, we become more concerned with what we can get, not what we can give. What is supposed to be works of compassion and love now becomes a duty carried out reluctantly.

What is the problem? On the surface, perhaps it is because we are tired. Like the apostles, we are excited about our mission. Like them, we go about healing the sick, liberating people from their blindness, misery and oppressions. But the demands made on us can be endless. We see this clearly in today’s gospel. Even when Jesus asked His disciples to take a rest, they found themselves surrounded by the people who were hungering for the knowledge and love of God. And like Jesus, we cannot but take pity on these people because we feel for and with them in their poverty.

But at the same time, there is a real possibility of being burnt-out even in good works. The symptoms of burn-out are irritation, anger and resentment, impatient and grumpy. This is only natural. A tired person is always a grumpy person. And what is unfortunate is that our good works will then become bad works. When our recipients see us, instead of feeling happy, they feel angry and hostile towards us because we do not serve with love and compassion. In turn, we become resentful of them because we perceive them to be ungrateful. Ironically, we end up serving our ego, our needs and ourselves. In no time, we also give up the mission of being shepherds of vision, of love and unity all together.

However, this is only the apparent problem. Being tired and burnt-out is only a sign of a deeper problem. When there is no joy in service and ministry, it means there is something lacking in us. The real problem is not because we are overworked but because we have forgotten who we are and what we are supposed to do. We have supplanted Jesus as the Good Shepherd. We begin to think that we are the Good Shepherds and that we are called to substitute Christ as the Good Shepherd. Thus, we begin to rely only on our own intelligence, strength and love. Of course we, being human, are limited in knowledge and love. In no time, we will be dried up like the well in the desert.

But the truth is that none of us is the Good Shepherd. There is only one Shepherd of love and that is Christ Himself. We are not a substitute of Christ as the Shepherd. We do not replace Jesus as the Good Shepherd. We are called to represent or make Jesus the Good Shepherd present by our leadership in providing vision, hope and concretizing the love of the Good Shepherd in the lives of our people. To the extent that we make Him present by our love, encouragement, consolation, compassion and patience, to that extent, Christ the Good Shepherd becomes present.

Once this is clear, we must not fall into that messianic complex, thinking that we are the Saviour of the world. Hence, our ability to be Good shepherds is so much dependent on our relationship with the Lord Himself. It is for this reason that He asked the disciples to take a rest, not simply a physical rest, which is of course necessary, but to rest in God. Unless the disciples rest in God and in Him, they will not be recharged. As representatives of Jesus the Good Shepherd, it is therefore absolutely necessary for us to be enlightened, inspired, loved and forgiven by Him before we can represent Him in that manner.

This then is the secret to the mission of bringing about the kingdom of God. Without coming before the Lord, especially before the Blessed Sacrament or in prayer, we will never be able to acquire the heart and mind of the Lord and thus we cannot act in the manner of the Lord nor extend His presence and love to others. This is the only way to keep us sane and saintly. If not the demands of the needy will overwhelm us and make us lose our sense of direction and commitment. Such a vision and compassion can only come from Jesus the Good Shepherd. Without His heart and mind, we will never be able to realize the vision of God to build a community of love and unity, sharing in the one Spirit of Christ.