Sunday, July 18, 2021

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SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY, July 18, 2021

(Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34)

There is a trend among the young that worries Catholic bishops. Young people very often do not want to identify with religion. No matter that they are baptized, they do not want to consider themselves Catholics or members of any community of faith. On surveys asking about their religious preference, they respond “none.”  For this reason, these young people are referred to as the “nones”.  Nones say that there are no absolute rules to determine right and wrong. Rather, common sense and science will guide them through difficult situations.  Sex before marriage seems good to them as also a constant change of jobs simply to make more money.

The nones are not the only ones alarming Church leaders. A small but determined group consists of progressive Catholics completely disillusioned with the hierarchy. They can no longer put up with Church leaders for various reasons: years ago largely overlooking sexual abuse, today refusing to ordain women and to allow priests who have married to celebrate the Eucharist; prohibiting the divorced and remarried from receiving Holy Communion. This rebel group forms its own Eucharistic communities with an unauthorized clergy.

In the words of today's gospel the nones and the rebellious are like "sheep without a shepherd." Unlike the people in the gospel, neither group is looking for a pastor. Nevertheless, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, seeks them out. He is concerned about everyone so he or she doesn't come to ruin. He does not want young people to lose their souls in the pursuit of pleasure and money. Noir does he want the rebellious to remain bitter for not having things according to their way of thinking.

Rather Jesus wants to lead both groups to peace. Today's reading from Ephesians calls Jesus "our peace." He is our peace because he has called all people to a common pasture that gives life. That is the true good of human life which ends in divine life. Hispanics, Europeans, Blacks and Asians thrive together in this pasture. Of course, many choose not to enter Jesus' pasture. Nevertheless, most of humanity admires him and, to a point, emulates him for having given his life for the love of others.

In the gospel Jesus first shows compassion by taking his weary apostles to a quiet place. He shows it again when he sees people walking around like they are lost. He does not delay teaching them. We want to ask him in prayer to help our lost today. He always has more ways to solve problems than you can imagine. We never want to lose faith in his almighty will.

More than this, we should continue with our commitments so that groups alienated from the Church see their fruits. First of all, we must not imitate their mistakes by abandoning the traditions of the Church. Sometimes we find widowed people cohabiting instead of marrying so that they do not lose the income of their dead spouses. Such action defies both divine and state law. Likewise, let us continue with our charitable works. Today it is not necessarily the priests who remind others of Jesus. Missionaries of Charity and the members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul are the ones who enable them to see the Lord at work.

As the Letter to the Ephesians calls Christ "our peace", the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading calls him "’our justice.’" Jesus is the justice that makes us brothers and sisters to one another. He is the justice that takes from disillusioned progressives the bitterness that prevents them from nourishing themselves on the Lord’s true pasture. He is the justice that transforms "nones" into its committed followers. Jesus is our peace and justice.


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