{"id":1647,"date":"2015-07-19T14:23:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-19T18:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1647"},"modified":"2015-07-19T14:23:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-19T18:23:55","slug":"16th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/16th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

16th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nJeremiah 23:1-6
\nEphesians 2:13-18
\nMark 6:30-34
\nJuly 19, 2015<\/p>\n

Last week we heard Jesus send out the Twelve.\u00a0 This week they report back and He tells them to take some time to rest.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to realize they didn\u2019t go out on their own never to return.\u00a0 They came back to Jesus to check in.\u00a0 He tells them to rest.\u00a0 We need rest to keep ourselves centered on what we are supposed to be doing.<\/p>\n

But they can\u2019t rest!\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the people kept coming to them in such great numbers that Jesus and the Apostles didn\u2019t even have time to eat.<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0 What is it that the people are looking for?\u00a0 What is it they \u201cwant<\/em>\u201d?<\/p>\n

Jesus is moved with pity for them \u201cfor they were like sheep without a shepherd.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 They wanted direction in their lives.\u00a0 They wanted someone to tell them what is right and wrong so Jesus \u201cbegan to teach them<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This might seem odd in our world today where people speak of freedom as being able to do whatever we want.\u00a0 However, we must realize our need for leadership.<\/p>\n

God had appointed leaders for the people but many were failing in their duties.\u00a0 As Jeremiah says, \u201cWoe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In the days of Jeremiah the shepherds spoken of were the kings, called by God to lead the people. \u00a0Today, with separation of church and state, many no longer see the government leaders as appointed by God.\u00a0 Instead they are serve our needs and wants.\u00a0 In the Church, the shepherds are the bishops, priests, and administrators.\u00a0 In our homes, it is the parents.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t easy to lead.\u00a0 How often do we question the motives of those in leadership positions?\u00a0 How often do leaders act out of their own self-interest?\u00a0 How often do they do what we want?\u00a0 How often do they do what God wants?<\/p>\n

We are human and we each have our own opinion.\u00a0 We each have things we want.\u00a0 We each have our own interest.\u00a0 That shapes our own decisions and it shapes how we interpret the actions of others, including those in leadership positions.<\/p>\n

We live in a very busy world.\u00a0 There are too many things going on.\u00a0 I know for me there are days where I feel like all I do is answer emails and phone calls.\u00a0 These can be important but it can also make it hard to sit back and reflect<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Remember how Jesus told the Apostles to go away by themselves?\u00a0 We cannot just keep \u201cdoing.\u201d\u00a0 Any of us, especially leaders, need to regularly be able to take the time to reflect on what is going on.\u00a0 If we just keeping doing, we might make decisions about what is simplest or in our own interest but when we take time to reflect, we seek God\u2019s will.\u00a0 We realize we don\u2019t have all the right answers.\u00a0 For example, we\u2019ve been working on the parish budget.\u00a0 Collections haven\u2019t kept up with expenses.\u00a0 That\u2019s means tough decisions, decisions I don\u2019t want to make so I keep asking God what to do.<\/p>\n

The 23rd<\/sup> Psalm begins \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall not want.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Is there something you want?\u00a0 There is something I want, to do God\u2019s Will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Jeremiah 23:1-6 Ephesians 2:13-18 Mark 6:30-34 July 19, 2015 Last week we heard Jesus send out the Twelve.\u00a0 This week they report back and He tells them to take some time to rest. It\u2019s important to realize they didn\u2019t go out on their own never to return.\u00a0 They …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-qz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1647"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1649,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647\/revisions\/1649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}