Back to the Meadow – Homily for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings form a beautiful progression:
In the first reading God makes a promise.
The responsorial psalm responds to that promise.
The Gospel shows the fulfillment of the promise.
And all three center on the figure of the shepherd.

First, God promises.
During the time of the prophet Jeremiah,
the people of God were scattered.
They were beaten down.
The Babylonians had laid siege to Jerusalem,
and had ultimately destroyed the Temple.
The chosen people are in exile.
The kings of Israel, who were supposed to shepherd the people,
have given in to power, cowardice, and greed.

“Woe to the shepherds,” says Jeremiah.
“You have scattered my sheep and driven them away.
You have not cared for them…”

But God cares, says Jeremiah.
“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock
from all the lands to which I have driven them
and bring them back to their meadow.”

Isn’t that a perfect image for summertime?
We might imagine a mountain meadow,
green grass, a cool breeze, the blue sky.
The meadow is empty,
but soon people begin to trickle in one by one or two by two,
as the shepherd brings them back.
They meet, shake hands or hug. It’s like a big family reunion.
Slowly the meadow fills with people.

This is God’s promise:
to gather everyone together:
“None shall be missing,” he says.

So this is the promise:
a shepherd who gathers.

And after the promise comes the responsorial psalm,
our response to what we have heard.
We just sang together,
“The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”

This is the most beloved psalm in scripture, and for good reason.
The psalmist has it right. The psalmist knows God, trusts God.
“God gives me repose.” “God refreshes my soul.”
“God guides me.” “I fear no evil.”
This is a psalm of trust.

Our response to God’s word from Jeremiah is to trust in the promise.
God will send a shepherd to bring us to the meadow,
to gather us together and give us rest,
to guide us, to take away our fears.

What am I most stressed out about today?
Where do I need guidance?
What do I fear?
Where am I falling apart?

When we are scattered, the shepherd will gather.
God will bring us to verdant pastures.
Not only will the shepherd lead us to rest,
but he will also refresh our souls.

And God will do something more.
The second part of the psalm describes a God who nourishes.
“You spread the table before me in sight of my foes.”
The shepherd will not only guide and gather, but also feed his people.

In that meadow that we’ve been imagining
there will be large banquet tables.
The people will feast as they have never feasted before.
The cups will overflow.

God will do this. He has promised.
Our response is to believe it, to accept it, and to proclaim it out loud.
“The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”

How can we believe in this? How can we trust this?
How can we know?
Because it has already happened.
The promise has been fulfilled
and is being fulfilled here today.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise.
The shepherd God promised has already come.
Jesus sees the vast crowd in today’s gospel
and his heart moves with pity.
He doesn’t send them away.
Jesus doesn’t scatter.
He gathers.
He preaches peace to those who were far off
and peace to those who are near.
Jesus goes among prostitutes and tax collectors.
He eats with sinners.
Jesus seeks out the lost so that “none shall be missing.”
He leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one.

“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock
from all the lands to which I have driven them
and bring them back to their meadow.”

The meadow is here, in this community of believers.
Here, we find repose.
He leads us here, beside the restful waters of baptism.
He refreshes our souls
in the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing.
We walk in dark valleys,
but here in this community
he is at our side, so we fear no evil.

And here at this altar
he spreads the table of the Eucharist.
Jesus our shepherd does more than prepare the banquet.
He offers his body and blood as life-giving food.
He gathers us around this table so that we can be nourished.

Jesus is the shepherd we have been promised.

But if the promise has been fulfilled,
then why do we still want?
Why are we still so restless?
Why don’t we feel more refreshed?
Why do we still fear evil?

That is a question each of us must ask ourselves individually.
That is a question to meditate on, to pray about.

There are six verses in Psalm 23.
One for each day of the week, Monday through Saturday.

On Monday we could take verse one,
“The Lord is my shepherd,
there is nothing I shall want,”
and think about that for a while.
Do I want God to be my shepherd?
Or would I rather be the master of my fate,
the captain of my soul?
It feels kind of insulting to be thought of as a sheep.
Why do I feel that way?
And there are lots of things that I want.
Why do I want so many things?
We could spend five minutes or so thinking about that little verse.

Then we could talk to Jesus about it, asking him questions,
for about a minute.
Jesus, if I let you shepherd me, what would happen?
Would I lose my freedom? Would I be happier?
Jesus, I want to be guided by you, but I get so distracted.
Can you help me focus more on you?
I have lots of wants: I want a new job, I want friends,
I want help with this particular problem.
We can just speak to Jesus as to a friend,
no longer than a minute.

And then, we can simply rest in His presence.
We can take about five minutes and let Jesus respond to us,
listening in the silence for anything He might have to offer.

On Tuesday, verse two:
“In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me.”

Then on Wednesday:
“He refreshes my soul. He guides me in right paths.”

It takes less than fifteen minutes to do this each day,
in the morning or in the evening,
or maybe on our lunch break.
We can open up the Bible,
or pull up Psalm 23
on our computers, smart phones, or tablets.

And then read the verse slowly,
think about it for five minutes,
speak to Jesus for one minute,
listen for five minutes.
One verse for each day of the week.

And by the end of the week
we may be surprised by what we encounter.

If we start on Monday and end on Saturday,
we will reach the end of Psalm 23,
and hear God’s promise to us one more time,
a promise that has already been fulfilled in Jesus,
and one to which we hope to respond
with full confidence and trust just
so we can say, just as the psalmist did:

“Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.”

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