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JULY 20, 2003 16th Sunday of the Year
"Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." Jesus' heart was moved with pity for the vast crowd, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.
Mark 6: 30-34
PSALM 23, DISTORTED
He knows the numbers. Whether by cell phone, computer or cable television, he is never far away from the ticker. And when he isn't reading the numbers, he's studying the reasons behind them and the prospects for new and higher numbers. My family's security is his mantra - but he becomes more familiar with the numbers in his portfolio, his wife and children have become strangers. The numbers he thinks secure his life has become his life.
Money and wealth are my shepherd, there is nothing else that matters…
She was devastated. She had been done in, cheated, abused. Her hurt has hardened into anger. A shell seems to have grown around her. She trusts no one. She wallows in self-pity. She vows revenge. What he had done to her was despicable, there is no question of that - but what her anger is doing to her now is crippling.
Anger and emotion are my shepherds, they lead me along the path of isolation and vengeance…
They are dedicated to the "cause." Whatever is required, they give it their all. True believers. The cause becomes the focus of their lives. They have little tolerance for those who don't understand or appreciate the issues involved - and even less for those who dare disagree with them. While their cause is noble and just, their zeal isolates them and creates a whole new source of pain and alienation far more divisive and unjust as the "cause."
The cause is my shepherd, I am blind to everything else…
"Stage mothers" are not just the stuff of show business legend. "Stage mothers" - and "stage fathers" - are found in every place and in every field of endeavor. There are "stage" parents pushing, pushing, pushing their children to excel in everything from softball to spelling bees. They obsess over the child's progress on the soccer field, the science fair, the pageant runway. These sad parents are so driven to make their child's future a success that they miss the beauty and importance of the present
Obsession is my shepherd, leading me to dying field of fame and fortune…
CONNECTION: Truth be told, the real "shepherds" we follow are often balance sheets, emotions that take control of our lives, and whatever even remotely promises a life of celebrity and wealth. We seek affirmation, reassurance, self-respect, support and the approval from a fail-safe, formula shepherd. We are the "shepherdless" for whom Jesus' heart breaks in today's Gospel. In Christ Jesus, God has raised up for us a shepherd to guide us in our search, not for the empty riches of consumerism, but for the priceless treasure of compassion and reconciliation; a shepherd to help us negotiate life's rough crags and dangerous drop-offs to make our way to God's pasture of peace and fulfillment; a shepherd who journey's with us and helps us clear the obstacles and hurdles of fear and self-interest so that we may live lives centered in what is right and just.
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