Homily 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time - June 18, 2023

 Readings can be found here.

            Jesus’ heart was moved with pity because the crowds were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.  Troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.  I did some quick research on the internet to find out what’s involved in caring for sheep.  A couple of the things I read struck me.  Sheep are herd animals so they like to stay together.  They’re afraid of people and other animals they don’t know.  Scared of outsiders.  They huddle together for protection from predators.  However, sheep need to be kept in a fenced area.  They’re considered great escape artists.  They want to be together in a community, but they also want to be free on their own.  Isn’t that what our culture tells us these days?  We should form communities of like minded people and be wary of outsiders.  But at the same time, we should be independent and make it on our own.

            We see this a great deal with our young people.  How many of our children graduate high school and then go to college out of town?  Or when they graduate, move to another city to take a job?  My younger son moved to Austin, Texas two years ago to work in his field.  It’s kind of like sheep escaping from the fenced in pasture of their childhood home.  Yet, even though they’ve escaped, so to speak, they still seek community.  It took a little time but my son has built a new community of friends and coworkers in Austin.  He misses friends and family back home, but he’s built a new home for himself in a new city.

            However, during this process of growth and building new communities, many become lost from their faith communities.  Some may even feel abandoned by their faith communities.  We’ve all heard the statistics.  Upwards of 30% of Americas claim they are “nones”, meaning they have no religious affiliation.  Our culture doesn’t seem to value people of faith, or at least, not the Christian faith.  Christian values are seen by some as outdated, constricting, or repressive.

            I have a friend in New York City that was raised in the Catholic Church.  As they grew up and went to college, they had just those thoughts about the Church.  There were too many rules.  It was more about “religion”.  They were a spiritual person, not religious.  My friend moved out of their hometown after graduating college and built a new community in their new home.  They were one of the “nones” for a time but later accepted a non-Christian faith.  It emphasizes individual spirituality and practices over an organized faith.

            Our young people are not the only ones that may feel lost or abandoned by their faith community.  During diaconate formation, I spent time at St. Anne’s home near Rochester General Hospital.  For some of the residents, their faith community was the person that brought them Holy Eucharist on Sunday.  Many of the residents were able to attend weekly Mass but had few visitors during the week. They had few opportunities to interact with others, let alone others that shared their faith.  I’m sure there are other senior care facilities with similar situations.

            How do we reach out to those that might feel lost or abandoned?  Jesus gives us direction in today’s Gospel.  First, Jesus tells us to ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers.  We should pray to God for more laborers to seek out the lost sheep.  This doesn’t mean to simply pray for more priests or deacons.  We are all available laborers for the harvest.  We can pray for wisdom in discerning our call as laborers.  Nativity has many ministries that serve the community.  How can we support these ministries?

We can seek out those that are lost or abandoned and invite them to be part of our faith community.  Many, like my friend, hunger for God.  We can seek them out and gently guide them to the Lord.  Invite friends or family to attend Mass if they haven’t attended for some time.  We can also invite others by living out our faith in our personal and professional lives.  Let others know by our actions that we’re Catholic.  We can be a light to others and show them the joy that results from faith in Jesus.

            Jesus sent the disciples to proclaim the kingdom of heaven is at hand to the lost sheep.  As disciples, we too are called to find the lost and abandoned and invite them back.  Like sheep, we all crave a community where we’ll be safe.  Some people leave their community of faith and try to find communities in other ways.  Who do we know that needs to find their way back?  What can we do to be better laborers in God’s harvest?