Maybe it
was the last time you went to a crowded stadium or ballpark?
Perhaps
you went to a concert full of people?
Maybe you
last heard it on a trip to New York City.
Or maybe
even those voices came from the crowd at amusement parks like Cedar Point or Disney World.
In those
moments when you hear so many voices, it almost just becomes noise -
To make
out a singular voice, you really need to concentrate and focus on a single
person
Otherwise
that person’s voice blends in with the rest of the crowd
My
friends, on this 16th Sunday of Ordinary time, the message in our
readings is pretty clear: we need not only the Good Shepherd, but we need
shepherds to lead us to the Good Shepherd.
In the
first reading from the prophet Jeremiah, he is lamenting the many voices of
false shepherds leading the Lord’s flock astray.
The Lord
promises to send a righteous shepherd to unite the flock – he’ll be from the
line of David
And who is
this that Jeremiah is speaking about?
The Good
Shepherd – Christ Jesus
In the
Gospel from the 6th Chapter of Mark’s Gospel, the disciples return
after being sent out by Jesus to go into the towns and preach in His name
What’s the
result of this?
People
were closing in on Jesus from all over to see this man whom the disciples had
preached about.
Jesus
invites the disciples to take their rest on a boat ride across the way
And when
they get there, we get the crowds who had followed on foot
“They were
like sheep without a shepherd”
During the
time of Jesus, there would have been many voices throughout the towns we hear
about in the Gospels
Some
people wanted to sell things from their stands
Others
were announcing news from the streets
Some
voices were those of religious leaders
Others
were from civic roman leaders
There were
even revolutionaries who claimed to be the messiah so that they could lead a
rebellion to overthrow the romans
There were
so many voices that blended together to create one giant blob of noise
That is,
unless the listeners would focus on a single voice
Jesus
sends His disciples to bring a message of truth and hope to these people
I’m sure
not many actually listened to the disciples as the disciples’ voices might have
blended in with the rest of the voices around the towns
But the
Gospel tells us that some actually listened
They
sought the truth
They
sought hope
And they
wanted to explore more about this man named Jesus
So they go
to meet him
We find
out this week that not only does He teach them, but He feeds them
My
friends, whose voice do we listen to?
When we
seem to be exposed to so many voices each and every day –
Whose
voice do you focus on?
If we
don’t take the time to reflect, and focus on the voice of Christ, we can become
lost in the endless noise of the world’s voices
But Christ
doesn’t just call us to be attentive to His voice.
It isn’t
just about me and Jesus.
He calls
us to do what He called the disciples to do 2000 years ago
Go into
the towns and speak about Him
There are
so many people still seeking hope and truth in the midst of the world’s voices
You are
called to be a bearer of hope and a herald of truth
To take
his message to school, work, sports, activities, restaurants, sporting events,
concerts, New York City, and even to Cedar Point.
To
proclaim His message on Social Media
And to
share His message by the way you live your life
