Readings for July 20-21, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Lyn Zahorik | For On Mission
My parents raised pigs and cows on our farm. However, once I reached the age of 6, my dad would give me a baby lamb each spring. In the fall, my dad would send it to a “farm for big sheep.”
I named each lamb “Bambi.” The lamb and I were inseparable, and it would follow me everywhere. We would nap under a shade tree on a warm summer afternoon and together would eat more strawberries than I was putting into the bucket.
Around Bambi #6, I gained the understanding of what the “farm for big sheep” really was, and my desire to have any further Bambis in my life stopped.
I did learn things from my Bambis. Sheep are not very savvy. My lamb would stand in the rain rather than take shelter in the barn a few feet away. Sometimes the lamb would edge up to a cliff. Rather than take a step back, frozen in fear, she would “baa” for me to rescue her.
Sheep do have one distinct ability. They know their shepherd’s voice. When my lamb wandered off into an unfamiliar part of the farm, she became lost. Only when I went out, calling her name, did she begin to move toward the sound of my voice.
The following verse from this Sunday’s Gospel resonated with my childhood memories: “His (Jesus’) heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
As Jesus moved among the crowds of people, he saw people who had lost any sense of direction. He spoke with those who were anxious about the “wolves” of poverty, social class distinction and oppression. Jesus encountered people who were too afraid to step away from what they knew, to take his hand and be guided into a new place of potential. Jesus heard people call out to him, reaching to touch him, as they sought the intimacy of being with someone who cared for them.
The shepherd-sheep relationship has existed for more than 5,000 years. That yearning within each of us for the Shepherd in our lives — the One who will guide us, protect us and love us — is just as strong as it was for the people living in Jesus’ time.
Some moments with our Shepherd are as idyllic as napping with him on a summer’s afternoon. At other times, we stand on the cliff, frozen in fear. The voice of Jesus is always within our hearing, asking us to trust him and hear him amid life’s noise. When we are willing to be in a dependent relationship with Jesus, we can find our ultimate purpose in life characterized by love, sacrifice, intimacy.
Pope Francis stated in a message (June 7, 2021) to priests: “Be shepherds with the smell of the sheep.” As the sheep in Jesus’ flock, let us take that message one step further. May we become so close to Jesus that we begin to smell like the Shepherd.
Zahorik is director for spiritual engagement at St. Mary Parish, Omro, and St. Mary Parish, Winneconne.
The readings for Sunday, July 21, can be found at Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB.