Lectio Divina
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Sheep”
1. Lectio
Responsorial Psalm 100
«”We are his people: the sheep of his flock.”»
Matthew 9:36-10:8
«”At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd…. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”»
The compassion of Jesus springs not from irritation with the crowds but from love. He sees humanity not as a problem to be solved but as sheep needing a shepherd.
—
2. Meditatio
As we tour about the Isle of Skye in Scotland, sheep are scattered everywhere. They graze on hillsides, wander beside the roads, and seem entirely unimpressed by the thousands of tourists who come to admire the scenery. Like me among the crowds of travelers, the sheep wander about seeking sustenance.
Yet I have noticed something. Sheep do not seem ashamed of being sheep. They do not aspire to become wolves. They are content to receive life rather than conquer it.
Modern man, however, finds being called a sheep an insult. We pride ourselves on independence. We imagine ourselves to be self-made creatures. Yet Jesus does not insult me when He calls me one of His sheep. He pities me when I imagine I am my own shepherd.
As I look upon these Scottish hills, I am grateful that the Church remains present in the world as a sign of unity for the entire human family. She recognizes today’s questions and challenges as the setting in which to carry out her vocation of listening, dialogue and service. Through this involvement in human affairs, she understands ever more clearly that her mission has a historical scope and entails a responsibility for the way social relations are built.
For this reason, the Church cannot consider herself a stranger to the forces shaping society. On the contrary, she actively participates in the processes by which society grows and is organized, offering her contribution toward a more just and fraternal society.
Pope Francis put the matter rather bluntly:
«”No one can demand that religion should be relegated to the inner sanctum of personal life, without influence on societal and national life, without concern for the soundness of civil institutions, without a right to offer an opinion on events affecting society.”»
In other words, the Shepherd does not abandon the sheep to the wolves of history.
And perhaps that is the great paradox. I travel halfway around the world to admire the sheep of Scotland only to discover that I myself am one of them.
And that is not humiliation.
It is consolation.
For sheep have a Shepherd.
—
3. Oratio
Lord Jesus,
You look upon me not with annoyance but with pity.
You see my wandering,
my anxieties,
my pride,
and my fears.
I confess that I often wish to be my own shepherd.
I trust more in my plans than in Your providence.
I imagine myself strong when in truth I am needy.
Gather me again into Your flock.
Teach me to hear Your voice amid the noise of this age.
Bless Your Church, which continues to walk beside humanity and proclaim hope in a fractured world.
And as I wander among the green hills of Scotland, remind me that my true homeland is wherever Your voice is heard.
For I am Your sheep.
And You are my Shepherd.
Amen.
—
4. Contemplatio (Chestertonian Synthesis)
On the anniversary of Chesterton’s death (1936)
It is fitting that I reflect upon sheep on the anniversary of the death of G. K. Chesterton himself.
Chesterton spent much of his life being accused of following the crowd. Yet he possessed the curious genius of following Christ while constantly surprising the world.
He understood that Christianity is not a philosophy for superior men but good news for lost sheep.
Indeed, the whole romance of Christianity consists in this astonishing reversal:
The sheep are not seeking God nearly so much as God is seeking the sheep.
Modern civilization admires the wolf. It celebrates power, autonomy, and self-assertion.
But Christ became a Lamb.
And He founded His Church not upon wolves but upon sheep.
Perhaps that is why heaven itself is so full of joy.
For sheep are forever being found.
On this anniversary of Chesterton’s passing from this world, I imagine him laughing uproariously at the modern obsession with self-invention.
For he knew that the greatest discovery a man can make is not that he is extraordinary.
But that he belongs.
And belonging, after all, is what sheep are for.
—
5. Actio
Pope Francis writes in Laudato Si’:
The sheer novelty involved in the emergence of a personal being within a material universe presupposes a direct action of God and a particular call to life and to relationship on the part of a “Thou” who addresses himself to another “thou”.
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
