OMELIE / Omelie EN

21 lug 2024

21/07/2024 - 16th Sunday in O.T. - B

21/07/2024 - 16^th Sunday in O.T. - B

Reading 1 JER 23,1-6 Psalm 22 Reading 2 EPH 2,13-18 Gospel MK 6,30-34

Jeremiah's words show God’s intentions: He, to give men proof of His love, wants to make use of men. Men enriched by skills useful to be in power have received these skills so they may put them to work to other people's advantage, to the whole people’s advantage: they should love Him with the same love they are loved by God. But men are always tempted by selfishness, and not always they manage to win over temptations. They become sinners and they bring sin even in the mission received from God, so God Himself has to intervene, first of all to reproach them.

His reproach is serious. If the people was compared to a flock of sheep, they would be the shepherds. The shepherds who think about their convenience not only are guilty of selfishness, but also they prevent the people from enjoying God’s benefits and care.

Regarding the sin of humanity, during Mass on Easter Vigil we sing: “felix culpa”, like we see the sin as providential, because Jesus has offered His life because of it. So we can look at and experience the love of the Son of God and of God through Him. Today Jeremiah’s words make us think again about this mystery: since the shepherds of the people have been unfaithful, He Himself comes in to feed His flock, to gather it and nourish it. This is great news!

How will God act? He will make use of men humble and who can love, and He will call them shepherds. He then will make use of shepherds, but above all of one in particular, the “righteous shoot, as king he shall reign and govern wisely”, and he will be called “Lord our justice”. It is a prophecy about Jesus, to whom the evangelist does not hesitate to attribute actions and behaviours of tenderness and caring love, just like those of a loving shepherd towards his sheep, which cannot take care of themselves.

So today we see Jesus gathering around His disciples to listen to them, to invite them to rest, offering to be with them in an intimacy of surprising tenderness. He does not hesitate to “waste” time with them, despite the crowds looking for Him. And when the crowds find Him, He still shows the disciples what they will need to become, merciful shepherds, able to forget their own needs in order to see those of the many others.

The crowds looking for Jesus are really “like sheep without a shepherd”, and He, with His teachings, gives them the true nourishment they need. He is the one Jeremiah was talking about, the presence of God’s strong and faithful love, the shepherd who is true king, from whom “Judah shall be saved, and Israel” will be able to “dwell in security”. The very men have realised this, so they are not looking for anyone but Jesus. They who look elsewhere will be disappointed, because men, as well intentioned as they can be, cannot give anything but the fruit of their vanity and their sin.

We will always look only at Jesus, according to the revelation today Saint Paul shares with us. Jesus, the Son of God, anointed by the Father, has given Himself up for everyone, both for His people and all the peoples. His offering – and in order to make it complete and definitive He has used His own death – is making us all closer to God.

Everything we thought was important to be righteous and so to be OK for eternity, does not have any value. Not even the Law is necessary anymore for the Jews. Are you making an effort to follow the Law? You are exerting and troubling yourself with the risk of becoming arrogant and boasting about yourself. Abiding the Law then is a type of dangerous love. Only Jesus has lived it as a complete answer to the Father’s love, so we boast about Him, we welcome Him inside us so He can continue in us His perfect love, without a shadow of selfishness.

So He makes peace and He keeps us in communion with everyone, as children of the only Father!