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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.
