Saturday of Week 4 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Hebrews 13:15-17,20-21 | Psalm 22(23) | Mark 6:30-34
Obey your leaders and do as they tell you, because they must give an account of the way they look after your souls; make this a joy for them to do, and not a grief – you yourselves would be the losers. (Hebrews 13:17)
Many of us know from bitter experience what it’s like to shepherd a recalcitrant person. Perhaps it’s a stubborn child, or a loved one keeping bad company, or a lazy but cunning subordinate. We feel drained at the end of the day just dealing with them, and sigh inwardly when we remember that we’ll see them again the next day.
How much more, then, would our own shepherds be tired out by our antics? How drained must our priests feel at the end of each day, knowing that they get to wake up again the next day to more of:
- watching parishoners sneaking in just before communion, and sneaking out just after
- being asked to “tell my son how naughty he’s been, I give up already!”
- dealing with overflowing sewage from paper-clogged urinals
Yet they made a solemn promise during their ordinations to serve the very same people who take them for granted, and they will be held to account for that promise.
Fr. Peter Paul’s passing at the beginning of this week was a stark reminder that our shepherds are few, and getting scarcer by the year. As we empathize with the “silent suffering” of priesthood, let us help our shepherds look after our souls by:
- taking the celebration of the Holy Eucharist seriously
- not pestering them to do things that are truly our own responsibility
- not giving them unnecessary headaches to deal with
and, most importantly,
- asking the Lord of the Harvest to send more labourers.
Amen.