![\"Jesus](\"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jesus_good_shepherd.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Brenda and Sarah and I just got back from a short trip to Leavenworth
\nto visit an old friend of Brenda\u2019s.
\nJust to be clear, that was Leavenworth,
\nthe quaint Bavarian village near Wenatchee in Western Washington,
\nnot Leavenworth the prison in Kansas.<\/p>\n
Anyway, while we were there,
\nof course we walked around visiting the different shops,
\nbecause that\u2019s what you do in Leavenworth.
\nIn one of the shops we came across this little plaque that made us laugh.
\nIf you have adult children you might relate.
\nIt said,
\n\u201cI\u2019m trying to be independent but no one will help me.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this country we\u2019re pretty obsessed with being independent,
\nand we like to think that we can stand on our own.
\nBut today\u2019s scriptures remind us of how dependent we really are.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a beautiful unity in today\u2019s scripture readings
\nthat binds all of them together
\nin the figure of the shepherd.
\nWe see the figure of the shepherd in the first reading,
\nthe responsorial psalm, the gospel,
\nbut there\u2019s even an element of the shepherd
\nin the letter to the Ephesians.<\/p>\n
And what we find when we look closely at these readings
\nis the answer to what plagues our world.
\nThat answer is found in the identity of the shepherd.
\nNot just in knowing that our shepherd is Jesus Christ,
\nbut also in knowing what Jesus does as shepherd,
\nwhat his primary ministry is.<\/p>\n
We start with the prophet Jeremiah.
\nIn Jeremiah we see what the good shepherd does
\nby seeing what the bad shepherds do wrong.
\nThe kings of Israel had become weak and faithless.
\nThey led people away from the law
\nand had allowed Israel to be captured and sent into captivity.<\/p>\n
God says to them, \u201cYou mislead and scatter the flock.\u201d
\nThe bad shepherd fractures the flock and drives them away.<\/p>\n
So God promises he is going to take charge of shepherding the people,
\nof bringing them back together, of gathering them.
\nThis is God\u2019s first and foremost work,
\nbringing the people together.
\nThe bad shepherd divides and scatters,
\nbut God gathers.<\/p>\n
To accomplish this work,
\nGod promises to provide a shepherd from the line of David,
\na Messiah.
\nAnd the main work of the shepherd Messiah will be to gather the flock.<\/p>\n
We see this today in the gospel
\nwhen Jesus looks at the vast crowd
\nand his heart is moved with compassion for them,
\nbecause they\u2019re like sheep without a shepherd.
\nThis is so important to him, he actually changes his plans.
\nHe was planning on giving his disciples a rest\u2014almost like a retreat.
\nBut he sets that aside when he sees the needs of the flock<\/p>\n
And so what does he do?
\nHe begins to teach them.
\nIt\u2019s by teaching the sheep that he gathers them together.
\nHis teaching is filled with power and he creates a new people.
\nThe crowd gathers around him and shares his teaching with each other.
\nSlowly they form a united flock.<\/p>\n
This is how we recognize Jesus as the Good Shepherd, as the Messiah.
\nHe does the work of his father in gathering the flock into one body.
\nThis was his whole life.
\nThis was why he was sent.
\nTo gather.<\/p>\n
Paul echoes this in the letter to the Ephesians.
\nHe says Jesus \u201cbroke down the dividing wall of enmity.\u201d
\nIn Christ there are no walls, no barriers,
\nonly one body, one family.
\nThose who were once far off have become near.<\/p>\n
Everything that Jesus did was meant to unite.
\nHe touched the unclean, he ate with sinners,
\nhe spoke to Samaritans.
\nHe gave up his life on the cross.
\nGod\u2019s primary reason in sending Jesus was to unite.
\nTo make the lion lie down with the lamb.
\nTo gather Jew and Gentile.
\nTo unite humanity with divinity.
\nThis is what salvation is.
\nThis is the work of the shepherd,
\nand this is the answer to our world\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s world is divided. We have gone astray.
\nWe need a unifying force. We need a shepherd.<\/p>\n
We are fractured not only as a people, but as individuals.
\nWe need unity among peoples, but also within ourselves,
\nwho often feel pulled in different directions.
\nIn fact, we really can\u2019t have unity among peoples
\nuntil we have unity within ourselves.<\/p>\n
There is only one way to succeed in finding unity,
\nboth for ourselves and for the world,
\nand that is to find it in Christ.
\nOnly Christ is the way;
\nonly Christ is the truth;
\nonly Christ is the life.<\/p>\n
And so here we have all come,
\nlike the crowd that pursued Jesus.
\nSome of us may feel like we\u2019ve lost our way.
\nSome of us are directionless.
\nSome of us may be scattered or falling apart.
\nWe are like sheep without shepherd.<\/p>\n
But Jesus sees us, and his heart moves with compassion.
\nHe is here to teach us,
\nand through his teaching we become one.<\/p>\n
Our work is to listen to Jesus, to learn from him,
\nto take his teachings to heart, to be his disciples.<\/p>\n
This week let us join the crowd who is following after Jesus,
\nand be persistent in seeking him in our daily lives.<\/p>\n
Let us pray for the wisdom to understand we cannot do it alone,
\nthat we are dependent on the guidance and teaching
\nof the Good Shepherd.<\/p>\n
One practical way to do this is to get up early each day this week,
\nfind a quiet place, open up the bible,
\nand turn to the beautiful psalm we sang earlier, Psalm 23.
\nRead through it slowly, trying to own the words,
\nas if you yourself wrote them.
\nPerhaps read only a line a day and stretch it out over a couple of weeks.
\nOr maybe recite just the first line, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,”
\nover and over again throughout the day, like the Jesus prayer.
\nHusbands and wives, maybe you could wake up together
\nand take turns reading it to each other, or read it as a family before bed.
\nI invite you now to close your eyes, listen in faith
\nand meditate on its words as we hear them one more time:<\/p>\n
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
\nIn verdant pastures he gives me repose;
\nbeside restful waters he leads me;
\nhe refreshes my soul.<\/p>\nHe guides me in right paths
\nfor his name’s sake.
\nEven though I walk in the dark valley
\nI fear no evil; for you are at my side
\nwith your rod and your staff
\nthat give me courage.<\/p>\nYou spread the table before me
\nin the sight of my foes;
\nyou anoint my head with oil;
\nmy cup overflows.<\/p>\nOnly goodness and kindness follow me
\nall the days of my life;
\nand I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
\nfor years to come.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brenda and Sarah and I just got back from a short trip to Leavenworth to visit an old friend of Brenda\u2019s. Just to be clear, that was Leavenworth, the quaint Bavarian village near Wenatchee in Western Washington, not Leavenworth the prison in Kansas. Anyway, while we were there, of course we walked around visiting the different shops, because that\u2019s what you do in Leavenworth. In one of the shops we came across this little plaque that made us laugh. If you have adult children you might relate. It...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[349],"tags":[357,600,1086,1085,598,597],"class_list":["post-6935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homily","tag-gospel-of-mark","tag-jeremiah","tag-leavenworth","tag-letter-to-ephesians","tag-psalm-23","tag-shepherd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jesus_good_shepherd.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pOucj-1NR","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6937,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6935\/revisions\/6937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}