Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - The Good Shepherd_071821

Deacon Tom Writes,

“The Good Shepherd” 

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

God has a plan for our lives. Like any good plan, it’s designed to work so that anyone who follows it will achieve the desired result. The trouble is that at some point along the way we get tired of following the plan God has laid out for us and we start doing things our way. What happens? We all have our stories, don’t we?

Jeremiah has to contend with some shepherds who have abandoned the plan God designed for them. As shepherds they were not protecting their flock. To the contrary, they were exposing them to the very dangers they should have been protecting them from. God sees this and will not stand for such an outrage. What does God do? He promises to send a real shepherd, to tend and care for his sheep, so that they no longer live in fear or be at risk, and to gather those who have strayed.

We know, of course, that Jesus is the promised Shepherd that Jeremiah foretold. Does Jesus live up to the standards that Jeremiah prophesied about Him? Very much so! Even a cursory reading of the four gospels provides ample evidence that Jesus is the “Good Shepherd”. For so often we read where Jesus teaches His followers not to be afraid acnd that He cares for the people God has entrusted to Him, curing them of their sickness, physical, spiritual, and mental; He feeds them physical and spiritual nourishment; He dispels the darkness by teaching them about the Kingdom of Heaven and about a life of virtue. And when things take a turn for the worse, He even dies for them, even those who did Him wrong! Jesus fulfills Jeremiah’s prophesy beyond imagination!

Is Jesus our “Good Shepherd”? Does He calm our fears? Nourish us? Protect us? Provide for our needs? Did His death save us? Does our relationship with Him change the course or events of our life?

In today’s gospel, the “Good Shepherd” that Jeremiah prophesied would one day appear, calls His followers “to come away by themselves to a deserted place for a while”. There, within our deepest being, we can encounter the “Good Shepherd” and perhaps get to know Him better and thank Him for His guidance, protection and care.

Enjoy the Day!
Deacon Tom