WITHOUT A SHEPHERD
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 16th Sunday in
Ordinary Time [B] is, “Like a Sheep Without A Shepherd.”
“Like a Sheep Without A Shepherd,” is a phrase I noticed
right there in the last sentence in today’s gospel. Did you hear it? “Like a sheep without a shepherd.” [Cf. Mark 6: 30-34]
Today’s gospel is a gospel you can really feel on a hot humid July day.
Jesus’ disciples had been out there preaching about him and teaching folks what he was teaching. These disciples must have looked really tired when they
came back, so Jesus says, “Let’s get out of here. Let’s find a man cave - a
disciples cave - in some deserted place and rest for a while.”
We need breaks, in betweens, other wise we will become broken.
People were coming at Jesus and his disciples in great
numbers. Surprise Jesus takes a break.
Jesus and his disciples got into a boat and sailed to a deserted
place.
But that didn’t stop the people.
If you’ve ever been to Israel, you’ve been to the Lake of Galilee in the north.
You can see how the crowd could see where the disciples were headed. So Mark
tells us, “The crowd hastened there on foot from the towns and arrived at the
place before them.”
Going by foot was faster than going by boat.
FEELING A NEED
FOR SPACE - WANTING TO BE ALONE
Have you ever felt that way? You want to escape the
crowd. You want your visitors to go home. You want to get to your man cave.
It’s summer! Vacations are important.
A vacation: to vacate - to empty out - to escape - from work, from daily demands, from school, from each other at times.
A priest I worked with got a call from a mom he knew. He
said to her on the phone, “You sound funny. Where are you?” She said, “In the cabinet under the sink.
It’s big and I can fit in here and my four boys don’t know this is my best hide
out.”
I can’t picture that,
but I’ve heard various parents tell me they need hide outs.
My sister-in-law said the bathroom was the only place she
could escape from her 7 girls - when they were kids. “Thank God for locks. I’d
go in there with a whole package of Vienna Finger cookies. The little girls would be
scratching on the door, knocking on that door, but I wouldn’t open it till I
finished my cookies and got a 15 minute break.”
So here in the gospel Jesus sees this vast crowd and Mark
tells us, “… his heart was moved with
pity for them, for they were like a sheep without a shepherd; and he began to
teach them many things.”
FIRST CONSIDERATION: THINK ABOUT THE
FEELING OF BEING LOST AND ALONE
Think about that. Picture the gospel scene - when Jesus
says he saw the crowd to be like a sheep without a shepherd.
I’ve lived in two places that had lots of deer. One was
500 acres on the Hudson River - in Esopus, New York. It was a neat country a place. I
also lived in the Pocono Mountains at a retreat house that also had a lot of
deer.
I’ve seen little deer - fawn - who had lost their moms.
They would be out near the highway - and run and take off because of car lights
- and get killed.
Their little ones would be a fawn without their mother.
It happens at time with parents getting killed - and
their kids are without their parents.
For example, I remember hearing about a couple who had gone home for a funeral of a friend. They were able to get baby sitters. On the way back - on ice - in a storm - their car crashes and both are killed.
What was that like? What’s it
like to be a kid without her parents.
SECOND CONSIDERATION: THREE STORIES
FOR TEENAGERS TO GET THEM THINKING
I’ve used to use three stories on retreats to teenagers to get them thinking about the
parent-child relationship.
The first was a short movie I saw somewhere along the
line.
A mama bear brings her two little cubs to a tree and
pushes them to climb the tree. They climb the tree and mama bear takes off.
The little one come rushing down and head in the direction of their mom. She
would be standing there and give them a bear growl and the would turn and run
back and get up the tree.
She would take off again and down they would come and
once more growl - coming out from behind a rock - and they would rush back up
the tree.
This would take place 4 or 5 times - mama bear going further and further away - till the two
little cubs would settle themselves up the tree - fall asleep - and in the
morning come down from the tree and head towards where they thought mom was. No
luck. They were now on their own.
Tissues.
I don’t know if always happens that way - and if it
happens that way with birds and dogs and cats and mosquitos.
The second story happened on the New York Subway.
It was around 11 AM and I was heading to 42nd
Street and the Port Authority Bus terminal.
I got on the N Train at 59th Street. The next
stop was 36th Street. In came a father and his little son and they
sat there next to each other. The subway car we were on was not crowded. The little boy seeing the train moving - got
down from his seat and stood in the middle of the car - spreading his legs out
- shaking with the train - with a great
smile on his face.
Ooops. The train started to brake and shake as we were coming
into Pacific Street - and the little boy rain to the security of his dads legs
- to hold onto his daddy for dear life.
The train started up. Next stop DeKalb avenue. The same
thing happened - but quickly. Then out onto the floor again - and the long trip
through the tunnel and then to Canal Street. When the train started to brake -
it was back to his dad - especially with more people coming onto the train.
Next stop 14th Street, then 34th
Street, then I got off at 42nd Street and I got off and wondered if
that went on till they got off - and will that be the story of their life?
The third story was about The Wild Dogs of Africa. A male
and female had 6 pups - and they traveled together as a family.
Suddenly the female dog gets killed - caught by another
wild animal.
The male picks another female to travel with. She gets
pregnant and in time gives 5 more pups.
Well the movie shows that the new mom didn’t like the
first sets of dogs and kills them all - except for one - whom the film makers
name “Solo”.
The story gets even worse because the second mom prevents
Solo from eating with her pups. Solo stops growing - and her legs are stunted.
Eventually Solo drops out of the picture and the family because she can’t keep
up with the family.
What would it be like to be Solo - to be all alone in a
family - with a new mom and step kids. What’s that like - and then to be
treated as an outsider.
HOW ABOUT
LOSING GOD - BEING ALL ALONE WITHOUT GOD?
What’s it like to be cut off from God?
What’s it like to feel like a lost sheep - lost not only from family but also God.
Recently I was sitting there and some folks were talking.
One lady said, “I’m upset with my kids - dropping out of
church - moving away from God.” She
added, “We got them a good Catholic education. We went to church all through
their growing up years - and now they are gone.”
Another woman spoke up, “Don’t worry. They will be back -
when they start to have problems. Don’t worry.”
CONCLUSION
Is that how it works?
Do we come back to our Father when the train of life
starts to shake?
Do we come back to the Shepherd - when the valley becomes
dark as death.
I remember coming here to St. John Neumann for the 12:10
Monday Mass and I see a family I’ve never seen before heading out of their cars
and heading for the church like I was. I
said to them at the courtyard out there, “Everything all right?”
I could tell by their eyes, everything wasn’t all right. The father said, “We just were at the
hospital and mom is dying.”
I’ve often wondered about couples coming into a church
for a funeral. If the person who died was around 45 to 50, I’ve often seen
couples coming into church holding hands.
Is it in our DNA - to want to go it alone at times but
when there is cancer or trouble, we know it’s not good to go it alone?
