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A Reflection from the Fuel Daily Readings App for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Click here to read the reading.
My parents are farmers and we had around about 3000 merino sheep on our property. Therefore I spent a lot of time in paddocks and the shearing shed! I’m not sure if you know this, but Australian sheep are “domesticated” – they are high maintenance. They need to be shorn once a year, fed with grain when the paddocks run out of grass and when the dams get too low, they get stuck in the mud when they try to access water and need us to pull them out!
So when I read in the gospel about the crowd being like “sheep without a shepherd” and that when he saw them, Jesus was moved to action, I get it! This gospel feels at first like a lesson in good self-care, because the disciples are so flat out they’re not eating properly and Jesus, the wise leader that he is, steps in and takes them away for a break. But when Jesus sees the lost, hurting, confused, broken and tired crowd who beat him and the disciples to their getaway, he can’t help but look after them.
Jesus looks after the sheepish crowd (that’s us) because we can’t survive without our Shepherd! God provides us with literally everything we need: air, food and water, and the means for clothes and shelter. But he also feeds us with his Word and his Body and Blood and liberates us from sin when we get stuck. He is truly our Good Shepherd, gathering us into one flock and caring for our every need.
And as he won’t turn his back on us when we are in need and seeking him out, how can we not help someone else (neighbour, family member, classmate, colleague or homeless person in the street), no matter how tired and hungry we may feel?
+ Lord Jesus, our good Shepherd, teach me how to love. Help me move beyond fatigue into loving generosity towards those who need my care. I trust in You. Amen.