Sheep without Shepherds, 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), July 21, 2024

As Jesus encounters the crowds looking to him for an experience of God in their lives, he is moved deeply and describes them as "sheep without shepherds." But where were those "shepherds" who were supposed to be caring for them? The priests of the temple, the students of the Law, and others who should have been with them were occupied elsewhere. The implicit critique of these non-shepherding shepherds, together with the powerful indictment in the prophet Jeremiah (first reading of the day), calls all of us who are pastors in one way or another to examine our consciences as to how absent we might be from the sheep the Lord has given to us. 

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca, Ecuador.