{"id":2588,"date":"2018-07-22T12:15:19","date_gmt":"2018-07-22T16:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2588"},"modified":"2018-07-22T12:15:19","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T16:15:19","slug":"16th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-the-lord-is-my-shepherd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/16th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-the-lord-is-my-shepherd\/","title":{"rendered":"16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily “The Lord is My Shepherd”"},"content":{"rendered":"

16th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nJeremiah 23:1-6
\nPsalm 23:1-3, 3, 4, 5, 6 (1)
\nEphesians 2:13-18
\nMark 6:30-34
\nJuly 22, 2018<\/p>\n

God has always cared for his people.\u00a0 He had appointed people as kings and priests to be shepherds over his people but many of them misled and scattered his flock.\u00a0 Through the prophet Jeremiah, God assures his people that he \u201cwill appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them<\/em>\u201d and that he \u201cwill raise up a righteous shoot to David.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

This will ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus who is the Good Shepherd, but he won\u2019t come for another 600 years.\u00a0 Will God leave his people on their own till then?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 He will shepherd his people himself.<\/p>\n

What is the role of a shepherd?<\/p>\n

In one simple sentence, it is watch over their flock.\u00a0 This includes keeping them safe from attacks.\u00a0 It means making sure they have food to eat and water to drink.\u00a0 It means guiding them \u201cin right paths<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 23rd<\/sup> psalm is a favorite psalm to many.\u00a0 It speaks of how God will give us repose, guide us in right paths, always walking at our side, and with the Lord as our shepherd, our cup will overflow.<\/p>\n

Our response to our psalm today really sums it up.\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do we look at this verse today?\u00a0 What comes to mind when you hear, \u201cthere is nothing I shall want<\/em>\u201d?<\/p>\n

How many of you immediately think of something you want<\/em> but don\u2019t have?\u00a0 Do you feel like your cup is overflowing?<\/p>\n

What types of things are you thinking of?\u00a0 Are you focused on material things?<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have enough food, a place to live, money to pay rent, or a car to get to where you need to go, these might be what comes to mind.\u00a0 Know that God is with you.\u00a0 He fed the people with quail and manna in the desert.\u00a0 He cares for you.<\/p>\n

For those who have their basic needs met, the phrase, \u201cnothing I shall want<\/em>\u201d might lead one to think about having more.\u00a0 How about a new phone, a better car, a bigger home?\u00a0 Is that what you think this psalm is referring to?<\/p>\n

Certainly, we can want these things.\u00a0 There is nothing wrong with these things as \u201cthings\u201d but how important are they to you?\u00a0 Are they what is most important to you?<\/p>\n

While acknowledging the genuine need for basic food, clothing, health care, and shelter, I want to talk about a different perspective on \u201cthere is nothing I shall want<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Think back to what you first thought of today when you heard this phrase.\u00a0 Did you think of something you truly need or some material thing you desire but don\u2019t really need?<\/p>\n

Now, let me say that I don\u2019t believe that this phrase, \u201cthere is nothing I shall want<\/em>\u201d means in any way that we will get everything we want.<\/p>\n

Instead, I think it should lead us to think about what it is that we want.\u00a0 Is it necessary for a good Christian life?\u00a0 Or do we want it just because it is the newest thing?\u00a0 Perhaps we see someone else with it and want one for ourselves.\u00a0 When does this become \u201cenvy<\/a>\u201d, one of the seven deadly sins<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Instead of trying to get everything we want, how about letting go of our desire for the things that we don\u2019t really need.<\/p>\n

When Jesus sent out the Twelve, he told them to take no food, sack, or money.\u00a0 He called them to trust that God would provide through the people they would serve.<\/p>\n

How much do you want?\u00a0 Do we want to a point of excess?\u00a0 Do we consume to the point of “gluttony”<\/a>, another one of the seven deadly sins<\/a>?<\/p>\n

When I was a teenager, we had a few farm animals, mostly chickens, ducks, and a few cows.\u00a0 For a short period, we had a couple of pigs to raise for the meat.<\/p>\n

Now, when you go to the store and buy bacon, it generally has a lot<\/em><\/strong> of fat.\u00a0 That\u2019s because the farmers let the pigs eat as much as they want to gain weight as they sell the pig by the pound.\u00a0 But does the bacon have to have that much fat?<\/p>\n

I know for a fact that the answer is no.\u00a0 When we raised pigs, we didn\u2019t let them eat as much as they wanted.\u00a0 We feed them more than enough but not to the point of gluttony.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t hurt the bacon.\u00a0 In fact, it was the best bacon I ever had.<\/p>\n

Think about what you want.\u00a0 Think about what you really need.\u00a0 What do you ask of the Lord as your shepherd so that you can say, \u201cthere is nothing I shall want.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Jeremiah 23:1-6 Psalm 23:1-3, 3, 4, 5, 6 (1) Ephesians 2:13-18 Mark 6:30-34 July 22, 2018 God has always cared for his people.\u00a0 He had appointed people as kings and priests to be shepherds over his people but many of them misled and scattered his flock.\u00a0 Through the …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily “The Lord is My Shepherd”’ »<\/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":[474,475,476],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-FK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2588"}],"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=2588"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2589,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2588\/revisions\/2589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}