Sunday Homily 7-19-09, 16th Ordinary Time
Readings: Jeremiah 23, 1-6; Psalm 23, The Lord is My Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want; Ephesians 2, 13-18; Mark 6, 30-34
Jeremiah:
Author & Who: Jeremiah is called "the broken hearted prophet," because he felt compelled to say woe to the leaders & shepherds of the state of Judah. He predicted tragedy for the people because of their unfaithful ways. Because he predicted such catastrophe, the leaders & even the people hated him. He hated his his prophet job and his unpopularity.
Jeremiah is considered #2 of the big 3 prophets, along with Isaiah, #1, and Ezekiel, #3. They are considered the major prophets because of the size of their works, e.g., Jeremiah has 52 chapters.
Baruch, Jeremiah's secretary & scribe, is considered the person who wrote down & edited the Book of Jeremiah.
Time: ca. 625-575, i.e. before the famous Babylonian Captivity and during part of it, which took place starting around 585 BCE.
Setting & Story: Catastrophe is coming in the person of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (near Baghdad, Iraq, of all places). He has defeated the Assyrians who had destroyed the northern Jewish state of Israel (ca. 720 BCE) and is now looking at Judah, the southern state with Jerusalem the capitol. The 10 tribes of the north were carted away and disappeared into the Middle East gene pool. Intermarriage and lost culture.
Jeremiah sees what is coming, predicts devastation, and blames it on the leaders & shepherds of the people of this southern state of Judah. It happens as he foretold, and Jeremiah ends up going to Egypt, where he dies. He also predicts the return of the people to Judah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Interesting Side Note: can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed? Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, i.e. ca. 575.
Why? The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians. They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry. Three special laws were established: 1. male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.
The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law. They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days. Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest. So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians. It worked, even down to today.
Our Selection: Jeremiah is saying woe to the leaders & shepherds of the Jews of Judah. He is also consoling them that a better day will come when they will have good leaders and they won't have to fear and tremble.
Sources: Bishop Spong, The Sins on Scripture; Wikipedia
Shepherding
Every Friday morning since before 1990 I have had an appointment with a little lady about 4'11' named Elizabeth. She is 93 this year.
In the beginning she used to take the bus to Jesuit for our meetings. In fact, one fall Friday morning she was walking along the main first floor hall, the bell rang for the end of class, the guys poured out, and one big kid, number 55 in his football jersey, knocked her down. Uninjured and flattered by the attention of all the boys, she wended her way to the back of the property where my office was.
Some of you have met her because you have helped me move her from a second floor to a first floor apartment, then from that apartment to a condo she bought. Npw she lives in the 3 Fountains retirement home a little off of Park Lane, east of Central and Northpark Mall. She has always been a independent, bohemian lady with a literary bent. She wrote a novel 80.
The church she always attended after her conversion and until she could not get around was Holy Trinity in the Oak Lawn area. This was where she lived most of her life. While she was at Holy Trinity she met a couple in their 50's who used to bring her home after Mass.
As Elizabeth got older the couple got more involved. Really involved in a helpful way. The husband, who seems familiar with real estate, found the condo that she bought, then found the retirement home for her, doing all the paper work. He is selling the condo for her right now. At first I though there was some kind of swindle taking place, because they were almost too good. They were real, however.
The wife continues to visit Elizabeth about once a week, taking her to the doctor and pharmacy, using a lot of her time. This is depite the fact that Elizabeth can often be less than gracious. I do not know how many times I have been sumarily kicked out and told not to return. Elizabeth admits that she often treats the lady harshly.
This couple has been a life saver not only to Elizabeth, but also to me. I did not know how I was going to help Elizabeth deal with her growing inability to get around. She had said often she would never go into one of those old folks homes. She had told me she wanted to die in her condo. The couple somehow helped her over this obstacle. What they did, I think, is they just took her to a couple of places they had checked out.
I talk about this couple today because they exemplify something I think the gospel is trying to convey, the meaning of being a shepherd, a care taker.
Jesus does two things in the episode that I think are marvelous. First, he shows care for his comrades. These guys had been out sharing the message, had returned to share their adventures, and they were tired. People were all around. Jesus suggests that they all go away to a quiet place and rest. This is shepherding or care taking one's closest, one's family, one's team.
They get into a boat and cross some water, obviously the Sea or Lake of Galillee, one of the beautiful places of the world, a heart shaped body 21 miles in length & only 7 miles across. Many of you could swim it. The second marvelous thing Jesus does is take compassion on the people who have anticipated where he was going and got there first. He changes his plans and tends to them.
This is our challenge. The couple who care take Elizabeth is an example of what Jesus is showing us.
Whom do you shepherd or care take?
AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2009-07-19.mp3
Picture 1: Mass with Sabrina & Ruth
Picture 2: Choir, Wendy, Shonda, Ray, & Celeste
Picture 3: Ekes & Wittiks–Bobby & Debby, Barb W., Mabel, Marlene, Cindy, Curtis, & Warren W.