Readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
Ephesians 2:13-18
Mark 6:30-34
I don’t run into shepherds very often, but a few years ago, I ran into a shepherd (via Google) by the name of Kim Goodling.
She and her husband live in Vermont and run a large farm with a lot of livestock, including a flock of sheep. On her blog, Kim Goodling wrote about what it takes to be a shepherd. It tells us something about the Scriptures for this week, about the Lord who is our shepherd. I think it also has something to say about all of us.
She wrote about the “Skills of a Shepherd” and put it this way: “A shepherd must be willing to be humbled daily. Proud people need not apply. A shepherd must not be afraid to learn new things. Must have great endurance. Must exhibit ability to observe.”
And then she added: “A shepherd must have the patience of a saint. Sheep will test you and you must be able to outlast them and outsmart them. Once you think you have them figured out, they are at it again.”
Jesus would understand.
This Sunday, we are given a message of hope about the ultimate shepherd, Jesus Christ – one who fits Kim Goodling’s job description as a figure of humility, courage and patience. He is one who looks after us, and who looks for us when we have wandered from the fold and find ourselves lost.
This Sunday’s Gospel from Mark adds something else: a poignant and consoling reminder of what could only be described as transcendent love. Behold the Sacred Heart: “When he saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them.”
This is what sets him apart: Our Lord is a shepherd of compassion, empathy and mercy. He does more than merely tend his sheep. He is invested in them. He stays close.
He is a shepherd who never walks away.
He cannot turn his back on those in his care. He knows we are a hungering people. What are we hungry for? The Gospel tells us the people “were coming and going in great numbers and they had no opportunity even to eat.” (Spoiler alert: St. Mark is setting the stage for the great miracle we will hear about next week, the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes.)
At bottom, Jesus knew that the people were craving more than bread.
They were hungry for something only Jesus could give them – wisdom, healing, possibility, hope.
So before all else, as the Gospel tells us, “Jesus began to teach them many things.” I think one of the things he taught them is something that went beyond words. It was about his presence, his attention, his availability.
The recurring message is so clear: The Lord will not refuse anyone who seeks him. He will not deny us what we need for our salvation. He is a shepherd who never walks away.
This time of year, a lot of us are looking forward to a vacation. Anyone who has ever taken a cellphone on vacation knows what happens. Every five minutes there’s another email, text message, a call you have to take.
It wasn’t all that different 2,000 years ago. In his day, that is what Jesus was up against, as he was continually besieged by people in need. His “inbox,” so to speak, was overflowing. But he saw beyond their needs, into their hearts.
Those people, he realized, set out on a journey to meet him, to be with him, to hear him, to be touched by him. One writer described this as a kind of New Testament Exodus – a large group of people setting out for a different Promised Land.
For them, that land of promise was anywhere Jesus was standing. They wanted more of what he had to offer.
So when he saw them, as Mark puts it, “he began to teach them.”
The great lesson here: He is still teaching us. He is still available to us, if only we are willing to make the journey.
This Gospel assures us that even amid our worries, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does all those things that the Vermont shepherd Kim Goodling described. But then he does even more. He offers again and again the gift of his presence – companionship in his words and, even, in a sacrament, through the very gift we savor again and again in the Eucharist.
He does it by making himself available to us. Always.
That’s the essence of a good shepherd – indeed, the greatest shepherd. He never walks away.
Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog “The Deacon’s Bench.”
