Sixteenth Sunday Ordinary Time
July 18, 2021 •
Your job is to be humble, to be a simple sheep who seeks to follow Christ faithfully. And let God take care of the shepherds. God will deal with them. They're His shepherds first.
And that's what we hear in the first reading today from the Prophet Jeremiah. Listen carefully:
Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds. 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; there they shall increase and multiply. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD.
The Word of God teaches us very clearly that the Lord will take care of His sheep, the Lord will do this.
It is difficult for us to stand by and wait while there are so many problems in the Church and in the world. But I'll tell you what, we don't need to be worried about the world whatsoever. We should never be surprised by the sinfulness of secular society. The number one thing that contributes to the sinfulness of secular society is the sinfulness of the Body of Christ (the Church). That's the real problem: when we as a Church are not truly following the Lord.
So our desire as members of the Body should be to pray for the sanctity of our priests and Bishops. For the holiness of the people of God. And to do everything on our part as individuals to be holy, so as to be an example.
Your job is to give an example of holy discipleship. The Lord will take care of the rest.
Jer 23:1-6; Ps 23:1-6; Eph 2:13-18; Mk 6:30-3
Homily begins at 17:23