The 16th Sunday (OT B) offers us a picture of a group of people who appear like “sheep without a shepherd”. To the eyes of the Church which has been given the task to proclaim the Good News, the picture is that of the world that awaits salvation. The liturgy therefore is an invitation to see the world as Jesus sees it and as an opportunity for giving a saving word. The gospel tells us that when Jesus saw them he had compassion over them and began to teach them many things. This is just the prelude to something bigger of course. For now, however, Mark’s gospel narrative tells us that the returning apostles has brought with them a multitude that looked upon Jesus for direction and hope.
Relevant Articles
- They Were Like Sheep Without A Shepherd
- And He Was Moved With Compassion
- I Will Put A Shepherd Among Them (Jeremiah 23:1-6)
Reading Guide
After making your sentence flow of the narrative, note the following observations.
1. The episode logically follows the episode of the sending forth of the Twelve (Mark 6:7-13). Here, the apostles return from their mission (Mark 6:30). Between these two episodes, Mark has placed the account of the Baptist’s death (6:14-29), thus the “narrative distance” between the account of sending and return.
2. Jesus invites the returning missionaries to a private place where they can rest. It is doubtful however that the missionaries did finally rest. The number of people described and Jesus’ reaction to them would have prevented that. We have here a snapshot of the kind of work that proclaimers of the Gospel has cut out for them: one cannot rest even when one wants to.
3. Is there a connection between the sending out of the Twelve, their return and the appearance of the multitude? I think there is. Those who were sent out on a mission were meant to be “fishers of men”.
4. Jesus’ reaction to the crowd was compassion. The people appeared to him like a flock of sheep without a shepherd. These comments from Mark anticipate Peter’s declaration about Jesus in Mark 8:27-30.
5. The account in Mark 6:30-34 prepares for the episode of the feeding of the five thousand. Given the eucharistic undertones of the account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, we find here an interesting prelude in Jesus teaching the crowds (Mark 6:34). It would be like what we generally observe at Mass, with the liturgy of the word coming before the liturgy of the eucharist.
Comparing the Readings
The “flock without a shepherd” is a prophetic theme and is an assessment of the condition of Israel abandoned by its leaders and left to wander. It is a condition that characterized Israel led by kings who were unfaithful to the covenant up to the time of the exile. The prophecy from Jeremiah 23:1-6 is a prophetic oracle about the Messiah who will fulfill the role God wants for him as shepherd of Israel. At a time decided by Yahweh, the Messiah will bring together the dispersed flock of Israel and be for them the source of peace and security. The responsorial psalm is from the well-known Psalm 23. The Lord is the Shepherd of Israel, the one who leads his people to peace and the fulness of life. In the Second Reading, we find Paul referring to Jesus as the Shalom of God. Peace is one of the gifts of God for His people reserved for the last days. Paul tells us that it has been given in the form of Jesus Christ signalling two things: (a) the Last Days are upon us, and (b) God’s People has become universal, no longer simply “Israel” but includes even those who under the Old Covenant were considered “far away”. That “peace” has been acquired through the Cross.
Suggestions for the Lesson
The shepherd in Israel is a political, not only a religious leader. The Covenant with Sinai was designed to have implications on what we call the “civil life”. The last seven commandments are for creating a social life that would manifest how just and wise the people of Israel would have been if they had been faithful to the Covenant at Sinai. The king and his administrators (the bureaucracy of Israel’s kingdom was already existent from the time of Solomon) were supposed to keep the nation of Israel living under the terms of the Sinaitic pact. If one examines the history of Israel from the perspective of the prophets, one will find out that Israel’s description as a flock without a shepherd corresponds to a time of injustice, abuse of power, corruption in high places and the people’s falling to the lure of religious syncretism and to idolatry.
It is easy to look at the political and economic situation of the Philippines in the light of prophetic pronouncements and see there something analogous to the situation of Judah in Jeremiah’s time or even during Jesus’ time. People are tired, disillussioned, they hope for a break that does not appear forthcoming while power and money become more and more concentrated in the hands of a few people (who are also related among themselves, whether by blood or by a common fraternity). As the 2010 elections near, we find certain personalities doing certain things with the media hoping that their faces and names are not forgotten until voting time comes. In this situation, the liturgy presents us the picture of the Good Shepherd, the one who has compassion on His people and gives them peace.
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