As you all know, Father Tom and I recently returned from a two-week pilgrimage in Europe, travelling to five cities in three different countries: Fatima, Portugal; Burgos, Spain; Lourdes, France; Barcelona, Spain; and Paris, France. It was a Marian pilgrimage, where each place we visited had special places that were dedicated to our Blessed Mother. The purpose of a pilgrimage is not just to go see historic churches, holy sites, and adoring masterpieces of art, although each place was rich in history and beauty. A person goes on pilgrimage to deepen his relationship with God with prayer and reflect on the experiences of being in these holy places. And the pilgrimage isn’t meant to end when we board the plane to come back home. It is meant to be shared; to bring that experience to others in a way that they can know of how God reveals himself to us; in the case of this pilgrimage, through the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is why Father Tom recorded a presentation about the pilgrimage and put it on our website—not to just present a slide show, but to share a distinct and real element of our faith and help others deepen their relationship with God through Mary.
It was difficult at times to refrain from being a tourist and be a pilgrim. It was hard to put away the camera and focus on the faith that built these magnificent places, and reflect on the role that Mary played in these historic locations. But if I wanted to share this with others, I had to take some pictures. And I took a lot of pictures. I would take a picture (or two or three), stop and pray, take some more pictures, and stop and pray. And I find myself now going through these pictures, reflecting on the experience there, and praying with the photos that I took and with photos that were shared by others on the pilgrimage. And I look forward to sharing that experience with others, hoping it will move them in the same way it moved me.
When we returned, a lot of people wanted to know how it all went. There are two questions I hear over and over again. The first is, “What was your favorite part of the trip?” That’s really hard to answer, because each place had its own special significance, but being able to assist as a deacon at Mass at the very places where Mary appeared to the three shepherd children at Fatima, the Grotto at Lourdes where she appeared to St. Bernadette, and the chapel in Paris where she appeared to St. Catherine Labouré and directed her to create the Miraculous Medal, brought overwhelming floods of emotion. The second question I’ve heard repeatedly is: “Are you all rested up from your trip?”
So what does all this have to do with the readings for this Sunday? Well, when we look at the Gospel passage we just heard, we see that the first part of the passage is really a conclusion from the passage we heard last week, when Jesus sent the twelve apostles out to heal the sick and drive out demons. Today we hear how they return from their journey to report to Jesus everything they had done. They just got back from a pilgrimage! And so Jesus invites them to “come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.” He knew they needed the time to rest, reflect on their work, and give thanks in prayer. How often do we take the same advice, to get away from the demands and busy-ness and noise of everyday life to just be with Christ, even if only for a few moments of silence and prayer? And so they go off to a deserted place, which turns out to be not so deserted after all.
The second part of this passage sets up the multiplication of the loaves, when Jesus feeds the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, which we will hear about next week from the Gospel of John. But what is significant here, is that Jesus sees the vast crowd, and “his heart was moved with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” This is important, because it is directly connected with what we heard in the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah. The kings of Israel and Judah were called shepherds because they were supposed to guide and care for the people of God, and help draw them closer to God. They were supposed to look after the safety and welfare of the people in the same way a shepherd looks after the safety and welfare of his flock. But the prophet Jeremiah laments over the poor care that the kings have shown.
God says through Jeremiah, “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture”, “You have scattered my people and driven them away”, and “You have not cared for them.” Instead of nurturing and caring for the people, the kings of God’s chosen people gave more attention to their personal interests than for the good of the people. Any attention to religious and spiritual benefits was all but forgotten. This is what led to the division of their nation, and being overthrown and taken into exile. Unfortunately, this is all too common in today’s society. We see this kind of treatment and behavior from political and government leaders, business executives, social professionals, and even education and religious leaders.
We have to see Christ as our true Shepherd and the Church as His instrument in guiding and teaching us in all aspects of our lives. Remember what Jesus said to Peter: “You are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church.” And again, after the Resurrection, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter replies each time, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” And Jesus tells him “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” “Feed my sheep.” The task of shepherd has been given to Peter, the apostles, and in succession down to our bishops. This is why one of the major symbols bishops use in their ministry as bishop is the crozier, or the shepherd’s crook.
The question is, “Who do you see as your shepherd?” Who, or what, guides you in how you live your life? Is it Christ and His Church? Or is it our jobs, our government leaders, or Hollywood, or the media? To put the question another way, what are your values and priorities? What is it that your lives revolve around? Is it sports, or money, or television, or your job? Does your faith influence how you work, play, what TV shows or movies you watch, and how you relate to others, or is it the other way around? Does your job, extracurricular activities, celebrities, or the secular media determine how you practice your faith?
I find it interesting when I have conversations with some people who ask “What is the Church’s teaching on this or that?” Most often it’s because they truly want to be able to pray over certain situations and make sure that their decisions are faith based. But there are some who are looking for certain answers that they hope to hear so they can justify what they are doing, and they will say, “Well, I don’t agree with that.” A lot of this comes down to what we hear, see and pay attention to around us. What, or who, do you surround yourselves with?
For example, if your Scripture Study and learning about Church teaching is for the most part at Mass once a week, then you will hear this particular passage from Jeremiah and this Gospel passage from Mark once every three years. So by the time you are in your mid-fifties, you will have heard these passages proclaimed 17 or 18 times. And you might even have paid attention to the homily! But through the wonders of television, computers, and social media, a person will hear opposing views to the Gospel 17 or 18 times a week or more, and sometimes without ever knowing it! Which do you think will have more of an impact on the average person?
We can’t separate our identity as Catholics from what we do in our everyday lives. There was a time when I believed that what I did for my job should be completely separate from my faith. One couldn’t interfere with the other. I wouldn’t allow my faith to influence how I did my work, and my job was separate from everything else. But what I found was that I was being a hypocrite. I was one person at Church, another at work, and yet another in other parts of my life. There was this big internal struggle going on, and I thought each area should stand on its own. But when I allowed my faith to dictate how I live all aspects of my life, then it changed how I treated othes, how I saw my job, and it also allowed me to take the duties and pressures from my job, family life, and bring them here to Mass and place them before Jesus, the True Shepherd. It works. You might say it’s a pretty good fit. I still make mistakes, sometimes falling back into those old patterns. But Jesus gives us the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist to bring us back to where we should be. You see, being Catholic is not what we do, it’s a way of life. It’s not what we are, it is who we are.
We need to allow Jesus to shepherd us, to lead us away from all the busy-ness and noise of everyday life, to pray, reflect, listen, and to “rest” in him—to focus solely on him. When we do, then the pieces of the puzzle start to fit together, and we can see things more clearly. And we realize that everything around us—our jobs, our relationships, the pilgrimages we make—they all point to Jesus. And so we ask for the intercession of all the saints, and especially his Blessed Mother, as we pray,
Hail, Mary, Full of Grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.