There are many shepherds who have been entrusted to care for our wellbeing. It is their job to keep us on track, to care for the wellbeing of our soul, and thus to provide us with the Sacraments that have been extended to us from Christ. Each Eucharistic Prayer points out the shepherds who have been entrusted to us and thus how through them the unity of faith is being expressed and preserved. From the Roman Canon we hear: "We offer you firstly for your holy catholic Church. Be pleased to grant her peace, to guard, unite and govern her, throughout the whole world, together with your servant Francis our Pope and Richard our Bishop, and all those who, holding to the truth, hand on the catholic and apostolic faith."
As Catholics we cannot allow ourself to take on a Congregationalist attitude. Congregationalism is defined as: "A system of organization among Christian churches whereby local churches are largely self governing." We are not just Saint Mary's Church located in Oak Ridge, TN. We do not just exist in our own little bubble to live out our existence taking on whatever direction that we may desire. Again, we have many shepherds who have been entrusted to us and they are to provide for our wellbeing, they are to teach and instruct in order to keep us unified in our faith, and they are to care for our soul by providing us with the sacraments. Our shepherds see us tired and afraid and desire to point us towards the comfort and the rest that I is contained with Christ.
Unity of faith is contained in the Eucharist and wherever the Eucharist cannot be found there in return cannot be perfect unity. We are unified in our faith through the Eucharist. Thus Pope Francis preserves this unity, thus Bishop Stika preserves this unity, and thus Father Shelton as your pastor preserves this unity. We as Saint Mary's Church in Oak Ridge preserve this unity because we are a parish of the Diocese of Knoxville which exists in union with the pope of Rome. Therefore we cannot develop our own agenda that separates us from this reality. This parish community may have many unique ministries, but nevertheless these ministries must be concerned with preserving the unity of faith that is expressed within the Eucharist.
We must therefore take the words of the Prophet Jeremiah to heart. It was his concern that people not be scattered about in their faith, but instead that they be united in their faith through the use of a shepherd who would lead them. Christ takes up this same pastoral concern in our Gospel when He noticed those who were found to be tired and left without hope because He desired to instruct and lead them as a loving shepherd. We grow tired, alone, and afraid so often, but it is Christ who desires that we not remain lost. For this reason He has left shepherds to watch over us and to provide us with the proper direction that will lead us to encounter Him. In our participation within the unity of faith that is encountered through the Eucharist we are lead forth by our shepherds to encounter a better way of life then what could ever be discovered without Christ.
At the same time we must see the need to become shepherds ourself who are willing to be sent out from here to assist others in coming to discover the unity of faith that we share. We must be like Saint Paul who not only realized the need to reach out to those who were near the faith, but to also be willing to bring that same peace to those who are far off from the faith. One interesting fact concerning a pastor is that he been entrusted to be the shepherd of each soul who is found in his parish's territory. That means that he is not only the pastor of each Catholic who lives in this area, but he is also the pastor of each and every single person in his territory who does not practice the Catholic faith. May we assist our pastor by taking the unity of faith that we discover here and thus faithfully live it out each day helping to evangelize others to participate in this same unity of faith that is found through the use of our shepherds. We are not cast off to be found tired and afraid, but instead Christ who is our loving shepherd who guides us towards true happiness that cannot be found wherever division is present.
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