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Treasure in Earthen Vessels

Clay Pots

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.


“The Lord is my Shepherd,” says today’s psalm. But in today’s first reading, St. Peter refers to other shepherds–human shepherds. He exhorts human shepherds, acting on Christ’s behalf, not to lord it over their flocks, but to lead by example.

The implication is that sometimes human shepherds do Lord it over their flocks, in contrast to the example of the Good Shepherd whom they allege to serve–and who gives His life for His flock.

Human shepherds can at times be so frustrating. Why does it seem that God goes back on His promise: “I myself will pasture my sheep” (Ez. 34:15)? Why does He send us weak human shepherds to pasture us?

The first such shepherd of the New Testament appointed by Christ is St. Peter himself. He who will deny Jesus three times, and who demonstrated on more than one occasion impetuous inconstancy, this is the shepherd whom Jesus puts in charge of shepherds, and sets as the foundation stone of His Church.

So it is that we see Peter fulfilling that charge in the first reading, exhorting the shepherds of the Church, as the first head shepherd.

Certainly, human shepherds can try out patience, with their sins, shortcomings, and weaknesses. And yet, we see the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise through history: That the human Church, in the midst of all the sins of its shepherds, leads the flock reliably and effectively to Christ, the one Shepherd, through its teachings and through the sacraments.

And after all, what is more glorious and merciful, that God should lead every individual, alone and isolated, in his heart, or that He should assume mere humans into the exalted role of leading others toward Him? What shows His omnipotence more effectively–that He should infuse only the inanimate word on the page with His Spirit, or that He should infuse living mouthpieces, however imperfect, with that Spirit in order to actively lead His flock?

“I myself will pasture them.” God fulfills wonderfully on this promise by instilling, in the most glorious, mysterious, and miraculous way, His very own supernatural charism of leadership into mere sinful mortals.

ldeas for conversation with the Lord: Think of the times that the Church, or at least those in leadership positions within the Church, have disappointed you. Then consider how much beautiful leadership you have received from other Christians, whether in your family, in your local community, or at some higher level. Even as you recognize the disappointment, drink deeply of the inspiring beauty of those whom Jesus has tasked with leading you to Him. And tell Him with all your heart how grateful you are to Him for His faithful shepherds.

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Shepherd of our Hearts

Shepherd

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.


Often we become anxious because of the failings–sometimes, grave failings–of those in authority commissioned to serve us, both in society and in the Church.

God apparently shares our concern. Scripture often talks about how those to whom much has been given will be called to account for it. The first reading shows us that when our leaders fail us, especially those shepherding the Church, His righteous passion for His people is stirred.

And yet, mysteriously, He continues to commission frail human beings with the care of His flock. And He tells us to listen to them. For example, He calls out the Pharisees repeatedly for their selfish and hypocritical shepherding of the people of God–to the point that the first reading could be all about them. And yet, while cautioning His disciples not to act as the Pharisees do, He still encourages His followers to listen to and heed what they say.

And it is well known to us as Catholics, that although the history of the Church is spotted with profoundly unworthy shepherds, God’s command to us to follow its Magisterium has not wavered, and those who do so have the guarantee of following His path.

Clearly, as disappointing as many shepherds have been to the Lord, He longs to have human beings share in His own noble role as the Good Shepherd. For there is no attribute of God so exalted that He doesn’t call us in some way to share in it, albeit to a finite degree corresponding to our nature.

And let us not forget that there have been countless great shepherds in the Church who have made this dream of His come true. St. Paul. St. Augustine. St. Athanasius. St. Leo the Great. St. John XXIII. St. John Paul the Great. Even today, coincidentally, we celebrate the feast of a great shepherd, St. John Eudes, who tirelessly preached devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Secularists are quick to point out any flaw in a shepherd not, as in our first reading, to correct constructively. They argue the impracticality and absurdity of the Christian ideal based on the apparent inability of its most ardent proponents to live according to it.

In reality, though, the example of any single individual who lives up to that ideal, like our saint of the day, is an irrefutable demonstration of the possibility of reaching it with God’s grace. The life of every saintly shepherd is a glorious miracle of God enabling the living of the high ideal that He demands. And the example of the innumerable saintly shepherds who have thus lived in the history of the Church constitutes a massively eloquent testimony.

Still, when we encounter at close quarters a shepherd who is gravely flawed, who does not demonstrate a real sense of the sacred, or worse still, who intentionally deceives by deliberately leading a life contrary to what he preaches, this discourages us deeply. This leader, to whom we have entrusted at some level our spiritual care, has failed us miserably.

What answer does God give to our discouragement? He certainly is not indifferent to it, as we see in the first reading: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves!” But His answer comes at the end of that reading, and in the Psalm: “I myself will look after and tend my sheep.” “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”

His promise to shepherd His flock Himself is not a call to flee our flawed Church to the ranks of evangelical Protestantism. 🙂 But it is a clear message that while human shepherds pasture our minds and holy ones can inspire us, it is He and He alone who shepherds our hearts. Whether our shepherds are more like the Pharisees or like St. John Paul the Great, we must consistently heed what the Church teaches us, but the only one to whom our heart clings as its Lord is the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. In the end, we are His sheep, and only His. And He will never, ever fail us, even as the primary conduits through which He communicates Himself, both sacramentally and instructively, are flawed human vehicles.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Dialogue with Him about the saints who have most impressed you personally, and then any false shepherds who have caused you particular discouragement. Ask Him if, in the face of varying levels of virtue among human shepherds, He is still capable of guaranteeing you overflowing happiness through an authentic and fulfilling relationship with Him.

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