16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B - The Good Shepherd & “The Summons”
As the Twelve return from their first missionary journey this weekend, our readings continue to reflect on the authority and mission of the Church. Jeremiah says in the First Reading (Jer 23:1-6) that Israel’s leaders have misled and scattered God’s people. He promises God will send a shepherd, a king and son of David, to gather the lost sheep and appoint for them new shepherds.
The crowd gathering on the green grass in the Gospel (Mk 6:30-34) is the start of the remnant that Jeremiah promised would be brought back to the meadow of Israel. The people seem to sense that Jesus is the Lord, the Good Shepherd, the king they’ve been waiting for. Jesus is moved to pity, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd. This phrase was used by Moses to describe Israel’s need for a shepherd to succeed him and as Moses appointed Joshua, Jesus appointed the Twelve to continue shepherding his people on earth. Jesus also said there were other sheep who did not belong to Israel’s fold but would hear his voice and be joined to the one flock of the one shepherd.
In God’s plan, the Church is to seek out first the lost sheep of the house of Israel and then to bring all nations into the fold. St. Paul in today’s Epistle (Eph 2:13-18) sees the Church as a new creation, in which those nations who were once far off from God are joined as “one new person” with the children of Israel. Finally, in the great Shepherd psalm (Psalm 23), we hear that the Lord, our Good Shepherd, leads people to the verdant pastures of the kingdom, to the restful waters of baptism; he anoints with the oil of confirmation, and spreads the Eucharistic table before all people, filling their cups to overflowing.
In honour of these readings, we present "The Summons”, a beautiful hymn set to the tune of Kelvingrove, a traditional Scottish melody. Its text contains thirteen questions asked by Jesus in the first person. While the initial four stanzas share questions that are in Jesus' voice, the fifth stanza is the singer's response to them.
Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below:
