2nd Week in Ordinary Time 2024 - Tuesday - The heart of a shepherd

 Over the last week, we have read in our first readings the call of Samuel and the defeat of the Israelites at the hands of the philistines and the loss of the ark. Samuel rallys the Israelites and takes lead of their army and subdues the philistines. After a period of some relative peace in Israel, the Israelites go to Samuel, in his own age, and ask for a king. And this was a disappointing request because it illustrates israel’s failure to allow God to be their king.

But God tells Samuel to give in to this request, and they receive what they asked for. A man named Saul from the time of Benjamin is anointed king—a king of some successes and some failures, but ultimately he is disobedient with God. Yesterday, we heard how Saul’s disobedience—his rebellion against God—has leads to him being rejected by God.

So, today’s reading opens up with Samuel being sent by God to Bethlehem, he encounters Jesse of the tribe of Judah, and Samuel chooses, not the strong first born son of Jesse, but the scrappy red-cheeked youngest of Jesse’s sons as the new king, the shepherd boy David.

God wants a king who doesn’t just appear to be strong, or simply physically strong—God is not interested in physical attributes but in interior purity of heart.

This isn't the first time God shows special favor to shepherds: Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses were shepherds. Shepherds make good kings. And God’s favor of David is certainly evident, for as he is anointed, God’s Spirit rushes upon David. 

David, the anointed shepherd king, foreshadows of course, Christ our Lord and king, who identifies himself as the Good Shepherd in the Gospels.

God loves shepherds. Shepherds love for their sheep is not unlike God’s love for us. After all, David will later compose that most-loved psalm 23, “the Lord is my shepherd”.

But if God loves shepherds, and Jesus is the good shepherd, and we are to imitate Jesus, then we do well to consider what it means to become more shepherd-like. We are to cultivate gentle-loving care for sinners, courage in retrieving the lost sheep from evils of the world, diligence and focus, purity of heart, who considers the good of the flock, the church. With the heart of a shepherd, we are to protect, guide, and nurture, and lay down our life for the ultimate spiritual good of others for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

3rd Week of Advent 2020 - Wednesday - God chooses the unlikely

 Throughout the Scriptures, God is constantly choosing unexpected people to guide and lead and shepherd and deliver his people. God chose Moses despite the fact that Moses was reluctant and also a murderer. God chose Gideon, a fear-driven wimp, to lead his army. God chose Rahab, a prostitute, to bring about a victory. God chose David, a little shepherd boy, to slay the mighty Goliath. 

Our first reading today is part of a prophecy in which Isaiah is explaining how God is going to use Cyrus, a pagan king, to deliver Israel from its Babylonian captivity. Cyrus is certainly an unlikely character to be chosen as God’s anointed—after all, he wasn’t even Jewish. 

And in the reading today Isaiah is kind of explaining why exactly God often uses these unlikely, strange, weak people to do his will. Namely, because “I am the LORD, there is no other”. To show his might, God chooses the weak and the unexpected. He doesn’t even need to choose a member of the chosen people to do his will. He’s God, and can choose anyone as his instrument.

Hence in the Gospel, even John the Baptist, just wants to make sure that Jesus truly is the One. After all, John knows, that Jesus comes from a pretty unassuming background. He probably knows that he was born in a stable, and raised in the tiny village of Nazareth, by a humble carpenter. He’s so unlikely. And we encounter many people in the Gospels who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah precisely because he is so unlikely. 

And so when approached by John’s disciples, the Lord says, do you want to know who I am? Look at my works-- the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised…the prophecies of old are being fulfilled in your midst, God is at work, the signs speak for themselves.

Up until now, a lot of our Advent readings have been about the need to prepare our souls for the Lord’s coming through prayer and penance and good works. But, we’ve arrive at that point in Advent where our readings are starting to focus on the identity of the Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is fully God and fully Man. He is the Messiah. And we are presented with a choice, the world is presented with a choice: will you believe in Him or not. Will you believe that God could become Man, born in a stable, to a virgin, in the piercing cold at midnight, or not?

And making that choice, we come to discover that God also continues to choose the unlikely, strange, weak people of the earth to do his will….us. He wishes to use us, to make his glory known, to make the name of Jesus resound throughout the earth. May we be faithful to this calling, trusting that God knows what he is doing, in calling us to do his will, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Holy Father, all bishops and priests, religious and laity may shine with the Light of Christ’s love for the lost and despairing.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

For those who have fallen away from the Church, who have become separated from God through error and sin, for those who reject the teachings of Christ, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

That our young people will turn away from the evils of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or illness: may they experience the healing graces of Christ. 

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.