THE GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP

SUNDAY, SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

Jer 23:1-6; Ps 23; Eph 2:13-18; Mk 6:30-34

The Shepherd of the Sheep

The prophet Jeremiah expressed Yahweh's intention to gather his scattered sheep and raise a faithful shepherd who would look after his sheep with devotion. The divine intention was proclaimed in the face of the negligence of those he appointed to look after his people, who failed to guide them according to the will of God and who failed to pasture them on the heavenly pasture. The first referent of this prophecy is Israel as the people of God. God constituted them to be his people and gave them kings to rule in place of himself who is truly their king and God. The kings appointed to represent God were supposed to put before the people nothing but the will of God that is supposed to be their food and pasture. But they rather ruled the people according to their own will and never cared about the will of God. Because the kings and priests went about their own business and cared nothing about the business of Yahweh, they caused the flock of God to scatter here and there. The prophecy is God’s promise to gather his scattered flock from all over the nations and bring them back again to the divine pasture they were meant to feed on. “You have let my flock be scattered and go wandering and have not taken care of them. Right, I will take care of you for your misdeeds—it is the Lord who speaks! But the remnant of my flock I myself will gather from all the countries where I have dispersed them, and will bring them back to their pastures.”

The second referent of the gathering of the flock of Yahweh is not Israel but beyond the nation Israel. This is about the Church of God which will be gathered about Jesus Christ who is to be their shepherd. God will raise shepherds to look after the flock he will gather from all nations where he scattered them. By this, we understand that the flock to be gathered are not originally of Israel but sheep that Yahweh himself reared in these various places independent of those of Israel. For the gathering of these worldwide flock, Yahweh promised to raise a virtuous branch for David. The branch is the fulfilment of the everlasting Davidic dynasty promised by God. All the other faithful shepherds to be raised to lead the new flock of God will be shepherds in the name of the virtuous branch from David. “See, the days are coming—it is the Lord who speaks—when I will raise a virtuous Branch for David, who will reign as true king and be wise, practising honesty and integrity in the land.” By his wisdom, honesty, and integrity, he will feed the flock on divine will. The true king will be a Branch for David because he will rule in the spirit of David, with fear of God and a desire to know and do the will of God at all times. The king who rules the people as such is truly a shepherd according to the mind of God. The shepherd and the flock under his care can say: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit.”

We see the promised Shepherd in the gospel. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved and cared for the flock of God, fed them on the heavenly pasture by proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to them. He is the virtuous Branch of David who rules the flock of God with wisdom. Our Lord desires to proclaim the Good News to the people and teach them the will of his Father in heaven. “So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length.” He is the good Shepherd who cares for the sheep and feeds them on the heavenly pasture. St. Paul confirmed the fulfilment of the prophecy of Jeremiah, for he sees Jesus Christ as the one who united all the scattered sheep of God into one great flock guided by shepherds raised by God through the Shepherd. “In Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law.”

God gathered the sheep he reared all over the nations by the blood of Jesus Christ and made a single flock. They are a single flock, not occupying a single geographical location, but under one Shepherd who is at the same time the divine pasture on which they are pastured. The many shepherds leading them are doing so in place of the Good Shepherd, who is the Wisdom of God and the Eternal Word of God. In the same understanding, all of us who are baptised into Jesus Christ and made part of his flock are also to be good shepherds by dying to ourselves and living for Jesus Christ, who loved us and laid down his life for us.

Let us pray: Show favour, O Lord, to your servants and mercifully increase the gifts of your grace, that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity, they may be every watchful in keeping your commands.