Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Sheep Without Shepherds
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. The people of God in the OT deserted God for idols – false gods, sham gods of their own making. They tried to fashion a god in their own image and likeness. Are we Christians free from idolatry? We make our own idols and bend our knees to them – some in the crude way: God is for Sundays; power, money, the horoscope for weekdays, or drugs and escapists’ pleasure; others in a milder way, but perhaps equally destructive of people and of God in us: efficiency, timesaving and speed, mechanisation of life, comfort. Even the pious person may have his little idols: his devotions, his institutions, his intolerance, and his tendency to turn laws and authority into absolutes. Who is our God?
Gospel. Jesus was spreading his message of good news in word and deed. Today, he asks us that there may be among us many who hear his invitation to continue his work and to bring his liberating compassion to the people of our day. At least all of us should pray for such messengers, for the need is urgent.
Opening Prayer
Our God with a heart,
In your Son Jesus Christ, you have shown us
Your compassion for all that is weak
Give us shepherds who care for your people
and nourish them with faith and trust in you
and with an unselfish love
that knows how to serve
even without waiting for gratitude.
Let it be the kind of gratuitous love
that you have shown us
In Jesus Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Without my approval, they set up kings, and without my blessing, appointed leaders. With their silver and gold, they fashioned idols to their ruin.
To me, Samaria, your calf is detestable; and my anger burns against you. How long will you stay polluted?
Your calf, Israel, was made by a craftsman; it is not God and will be shattered.
Alliances and Fortresses Are Worth-less
As they sow the wind,they will reap the whirlwind. A stalk without a flower will never produce a flower; if it does, foreigners will devour it.
Ephraim built many altars, but those altars only increased his guilt.
I wrote down many of my laws for him, but they see them as coming from outsiders.
They offer sacrifices to me because they eat the meat, but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices, for he is aware of their sin and remembers their wickedness. They will return to Egypt.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 115:3-4, 5-6, 7ab-8, 9-10
R. (9a) The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They have mouths but speak not;
they have eyes but see not;
They have ears but hear not;
they have noses but smell not.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They have hands but feel not;
they have feet but walk not.
Their makers shall be like them,
everyone that trusts in them.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
As they were leaving, some people brought to Jesus a man who was mute because he was possessed by a demon.
When the demon was cast out, the mute man started to speak. The crowd was amazed and said:
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said:
“He drives away demons with the help of the prince of demons.”
Narrative Summary of Jesus’ Activity
Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and announcing the good news of the kingdom; he also healed every sickness and disease.
Jesus’ Compassion
When he saw the crowds, he was filled with compassion, for they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples:
“The harvest is abundant, but the workers are only a few.
Ask the master of the harvest to send workers to gather his harvest.”
Prayers of the Faithful
– For the Church, the People of God, that the Lord may give us shepherds who reconcile and animate with fairness and love, we pray:
– For all our Christian communities, that we may trust and support our pastors, dialogue with them and share their burdens, we pray:
– For all of us, that Christ’s care for us may inspire us to nourish one another with words of encouragement and hope and deeds of support, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Tender and compassionate God,
You give us food and drink
to sustain us on the road of life.
See how many people today
are needy and rudderless
and give them shepherds to guide them in life,
to nourish them with your living word
and with the food of lasting life,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
Your Son Jesus still goes around today
to our cities and towns, far and near.
Let his word be to all of us
good news of liberation
from the diseases of our hearts and bodies
and make us pass on this message
to the people around us,
at least by the way we live it.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Let us be and proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom on earth by our goodness and compassion. May Almighty God bless you for this task, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Mt 9:32-38
In today's Gospel, Jesus heals a mute man. The gesture of Jesus evokes mixed reactions. "Never has such a thing been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees did not want to recognise Jesus. Today, the Gospel calls on us to pay attention to this force of evil that has silenced the mute man.
Human lives are still tormented by these evil forces today. Imagine the forces and circumstances that prevent us from speaking the truth. Our refusal to stand for justice, peace, and love is an indication that these silencing forces are present in our own hearts, in the lives of our communities, and in the Church.
The scene ends with a passage that introduces the chapter that will follow, the "mission" discourse. As Jesus looks at the people who appear "exhausted and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd," he mobilizes his disciples to goeverywhere to spread the Good News. In the first place, he tells them to pray, not to work and preach: "Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest."
It is alarming to note how many people around us are exhausted, disoriented, and deaf to the most important Word, the Word of God! God's voice and the voices of the people are blocked from entering into our lives by evil forces. When faced with injustices, hatred, violence, and suppression, the only voice we would listen to would be that which shuts us down.
Our lives need an exorcism today - to drive out the demons of fear and selfishness. These demons can only be cast out by the living presence of Jesus. Be filled with the Holy Spirit of courage, mercy, and empathy and be free of the evil spirit of fear that silences us.
Today's Gospel reveals one of Jesus' "secrets": compassion. It was with compassion that he saw the crowds, not from above, saying "poor people," but from the perspective of suffering with them, feeling with them, and acting from there.