God's Flock is in Your Midst: Give it a Shepherd's Care
November 10, 2021
Fr. John Riccardo
A number of years ago now I was traveling in Scotland with a priest friend of mine. One day we found ourselves walking amidst the ruins of a Roman outpost along Hadrian’s Wall. At one point in our visit we stepped into a structure that had once been a granary and there in the center of it were two massive, circular stones. The posted sign nearby notified us that we were looking at ancient millstones and with that we both froze. Simultaneously, it seems, our thoughts were carried away to Jesus’ warning in the Gospels that it would be better for a millstone to be tied to a person's neck than that he cause someone to stumble. Suddenly, an obscure passage, at least for a city boy like me, had a visual attached to it I will never forget.
That visit comes to mind again this week for two reasons. First, because we heard Jesus speak those words in the Gospel this past Monday. Second, because those entrusted with the task of shepherding the flock in our country are meeting next week for their annual gathering in Washington, DC. How serious is the task for a leader to speak the truth, in love, to be sure, always in love? According to our Lord, very, very serious.
It is possible, Jesus reminds us, that by failing to teach the truth in love we may and usually will cause others to stumble, which is the basic meaning of “scandalizing” someone. In our voyeuristic culture, we tend to think of “scandal” as a juicy headline, usually involving some sexual misdeed. But that’s not what scandal means. To scandalize someone is to put an obstacle in his path as he makes his way towards the goal. As disciples of Jesus, that goal is nothing less than conformity to Jesus, thinking with His mind, loving with His heart, and doing our best to speak and act like Him at all times. And, Jesus teaches us, when leaders fail to speak the truth in love, it can be easy for those under their leadership to think things that are very important are suddenly…not very important. This is one of the many reasons why St. Augustine urged his people to pray for him; he understood that he was going to answer personally to the Lord for how he exercised the authority entrusted to him.
The “little ones” that Jesus makes mention of fall into two categories, it seems to me. On one hand are those who see a leader fail to correct someone in error, which causes those watching to stumble. On the other hand are those who are doing whatever it is they’re doing, or not doing, not being called on lovingly. In other words, it is a lack of charity for a leader with the responsibility of guiding his flock to see a member of that flock publicly living in contrast to the teachings of Jesus and not correct him or her.
Love cares, it gets involved, it intervenes, it takes risks. Every parent knows this. It is out of love that a mom tells her young child not to put his hand on the hot stove or to play in traffic. Why? Because such acts are harmful and love doesn’t want to see the other get hurt.
And so with teaching the faith. It is out of love, or should be, that a pastor, be he a parish pastor or the pastor of a diocese, brings to a person’s attention that he is living in such a way that he is hurting himself. We find ourselves now in our country with a number of persons who are on record as publicly championing the right to kill children in the womb and still presenting themselves for communion. Their doing so, and not being confronted by their pastors - not out of hatred or animosity or some political agenda, but out of love and mindful of the charge entrusted to them by Jesus - is not only causing many in the pews to stumble but is causing those same persons to stumble.
It is a serious thing to eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus in an unworthy manner. I remember the first time I came across 1 Corinthians 11:23-30. I was in shock. I realized I had, countless times, come forward at Mass to receive the Eucharist “without discerning” what, no, Who, I was receiving. Maybe I had missed Mass intentionally (I did so countless times in my youth). Maybe I had chosen deliberately to sin in a way I knew was serious and freely did it anyway (ditto). I still went forward. I don’t think I did it out of malice; I think it was more out of ignorance or simply because everyone else was going up to receive. No one had ever told me out of love that I shouldn’t do that because in doing so I was “eating and drinking condemnation.”
Either the Eucharist really is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, in which case we should take care how we approach, or, it’s just a symbol. And, in the words of Flannery O’Connor, if it’s just a symbol, “to hell with it.”
Leadership is rare, that’s why when we see it - whether in business, in government, in a family, or the Church - we are so inspired by it. As our bishops prepare to gather next week for some of the most important meetings they have had in years, let us resolve to pray for these men chosen by the Lord Jesus to shepherd His flock. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to descend upon them in power as He did on the Day of Pentecost. Let us pray for an ever greater gift of faith in each of them. Let us pray that their hearts and minds will be ever more conformed to the Heart and Mind of Jesus. Let us pray for the wisdom to know what must be done right now, and the courage to do it. Let us pray that the Lord will help them to grow in love for those they shepherd, the love that never fails to speak the truth, always in the way our Lord Himself would do it, with the aim of winning those who for whatever reason have wandered.
And, of course, lest we think we’re somehow absolved from any and all responsibilities, let us pray for ourselves too. May God forgive us for the times we have failed to live, speak, think and love as Jesus commands and the Spirit empowers us to do.
