16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When Jeremiah was delivering his prophecies from about 628 BC to 586 BC, the people of Israel considered God their Great Shepherd.  The leaders of Israel were also called shepherds. It was their duty to care for the people of Israel just as God cared for them. The duty of shepherds was to keep their flock intact and protect it from predators and to supervise the migration of the flock and ensure they made it to market areas in time for shearing.

It is clear from our first reading today, Jeremiah 12:1-6, that Israel’s leadership in the 6^th Century BC was not doing a very good job tending their sheep.  So, God, through Jeremiah, promised to appoint shepherds “who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing.”  Ultimately God sent Jesus, The Good Shepherd, who, as we are told in our 2^nd reading for today from Ephesians 2:13-18, draws us (sheep) closer to the Father through the Spirit and through the sacrifice of His blood.

Each one of us, as a disciple of Jesus, and an adopted daughter or son of God the Father, is called to be a good and caring shepherd.  We all have our own flocks to tend: the people in our families, the people we work with, the people we worship with, the people we pray with, the people in our neighborhoods, and the people in Peachtree City.  We could also include the people in Georgia, the people in the United States, and all the people in the world.  

As God’s special shepherds on earth we have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable sheep in our world.  But we also must assure that we give ourselves the time we need to nurture ourselves spiritually as well as physically.  Following the example of Jesus, we must make time for prayer, for reflection and for quiet so we can hear the voice of God. 

As we gather again, O God, 
on this first day of the week, 
grant your church the joy of tasting again 
the living presence of Jesus Christ, 
in the word that is proclaimed 
and in the bread of life that we break. 

Let us recognize in him 
the true prophet and shepherd 
who guides us to the springs of eternal life. 
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
God for ever and ever. 
AMEN.