Like Sheep Without a Shepherd

Gospel Reflection for July 21, 2024 - Mark 6:30-34

And the apostles coming together unto Jesus, related to him all things that they had done and taught.

And he said to them: Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going: and they had not so much as time to eat.

And going up into a ship, they went into a desert place apart.

And they saw them going away, and many knew: and they ran flocking thither on foot from all the cities, and were there before them.

And Jesus going out saw a great multitude: and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:30-34 DRA)

The readings for today function as a fitting sequence. Together, they establish one of the typological images which Christ fulfilled from the Old Testament, and indeed from universal human wisdom, that of the Good Shepherd. The typology of Scripture, in which God prefigured Christ’s coming by giving a great multitude of offices, actions and symbols over many centuries of time, which were then repeated and perfected by Christ as the new Adam, the new Noah, the new Moses, the new David, etc., lends an infinite depth to Bible study and, as Ven. Fulton Sheen once said, is one of the most miraculous and unique proofs for Christ’s messianic divinity. No other figure in world religions has been prefigured as was Christ, who did all that was expected of Him while also transcending and even shocking some of the assumptions of the Jewish rabbis. The Good Shepherd is certainly one of these “types” or “figures,” as St. Paul calls them (Rom 5:14), focusing on the pastoral culture of Jews and many other peoples in ancient times and reflecting the professions of multiple Old Testament figures, such as Moses and David.

In the first reading from Jeremias, however, “shepherd” is given a meaning beyond merely the herding of sheep. Through His prophet, God uses “shepherd” to means those who lead, teach and govern the “flock” of His people. In this way, Jeremias gives one of many “blueprints” for the Church in the Old Testament. God tells us that, like Israel, the eschatological People of God will still have visible, human shepherds (as He uses the term in the plural), led by one divine Shepherd who is explicitly named as the LORD. The Divine Shepherd will act as both the true pastor and the king of His people and will never lead them into error or cause them to scatter. Under Him are other shepherds, called and chosen personally by God Himself (not merely elected representatives of the laity), with a sacramental vocation imaging the true Shepherd who is Christ. These shepherds will not cause God’s flock to “fear and tremble” because of the poor leadership exhibited by the shepherds of Israel, and “none will be missing” because of them.

This promise could seem false at face value. Throughout the centuries, many popes, bishops and clergy of all types in the Church have led the faithful astray; indeed, whole sections of bishops, such as those in Anglican England or the Orthodox East, have caused sheep to go “missing” through the errors of heresy and schism. During the so-called “English Reformation,” only one bishop – St. John Fisher – remained faithful to the Church. Likewise, in the early Church, a swath of bishops fell into Arianism, even as most of the laity remained orthodox but were often prevented from attending Divine Liturgy by their corrupt pastors.

In more modern times, many elders of the Church have permitted or even encouraged error, as with the recent phenomenon of “Pride Masses” and the blessing of same-sex couples, while allowing the authentic Tradition of the Church to fall into disuse or even be maligned by the “experts” as outdated and elitist. Of course, the most famous failing is the sex abuse scandal and its cover-up by many bishops. All of these could give the impression that the leaders of the Church are not particularly better, and have sometimes been worse, than the shepherds of Israel – the apostles themselves were repeatedly wrong in the Gospels and the first pope, St. Peter, even briefly fell into apostasy, denying Christ three times!

Jeremias does not say that none of the flock will choose to leave the fold; nor does he say that all of the new shepherds will be perfect or always teach correctly in their personal opinions and lead exemplary lives. This shows the truly original quality of Jeremias’s new vision from God for the new Israel: our true shepherd is Christ, whose “rod and staff,” His justice and mercy comfort us, as we discussed in last Sunday’s reflection; the clergy participate in His ministry. Like the chief Shepherd, the shepherds are both pastoral and royal, guiding their flock into green pastures while also governing with God’s justice. But unlike the shepherds of Israel, the Magisterium of the Church cannot impose false doctrines on the faithful; even if they can and do fail personally, the hierarchy, when teaching officially, are not allowed by God to lead their flock into error.

This is a great gift. The Tradition which the bishops with the people hand on is sure and reliable; it cannot be contradicted or violated through official teaching. This does not mean that the disciplines of the Church cannot be used as a means of getting around those doctrines, as disciplines, while ordinarily binding and authoritative, are not themselves infallible, or that the bishops will not teach error in their personal statements or always live out the Faith in an exemplary manner - and the punishment threatened to the wicked shepherds of Israel applies equally, if not more so, to the pastors of the new Israel.  Nevertheless, we have an assurance that is unique to the Catholic Church and depends entirely on the Holy Ghost: the Tradition given by Christ to the apostles and enriched throughout the centuries will always be there, as will its administration in the Sacraments, no matter how much the humans in the Church attempt to sully or obscure them. Now, only those are “missing” who willingly separate from and reject this Tradition and the divine life imparted in the Sacraments, and even if the personal actions of the bishops may cause us to “fear and tremble,” we can still remain loyal to them and know that their official teaching is dependable. Nothing else in life is like this, precisely because only the Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ in its subsistent fullness.

The life of a layperson can be very difficult. Between the ordinary struggles of daily life, to trying to live as a faithful Catholic in an anti-Catholic world to dealing with the scandals and confusion in the Church, lay life can be tough, leaving many feeling “like sheep without a shepherd.” But even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we know that Christ our Shepherd will come for us, guiding us back home with His rod and staff of truth, goodness and beauty, never abandoning us. He allows us to come to Him through the desert, so that, by this suffering, our faith will be proven:

Here He tries the faith of the multitude, and by seeking a desert place He would see whether they care to follow Him. And they follow Him, and that not on horseback, nor in carriages, but laboriously coming on foot, they shew how great is their anxiety for their salvation. (Bede, Catena Aurea)

We only have to call for Him and to recognize His voice when He responds, (Jn 10:3-4) not allowing ourselves to be led by false shepherds into dangerous wilderness.

Ven. Fulton Sheen, model pastor of the Church, ora pro nobis!