14/06/26 Matthew 9:36-10.8- Fr. Gerard Mee 

14/06/26 Matthew 9:36-10.8- Fr. Gerard Mee
The first and last verses of our Gospel warmed my heart; as they simply capture the essence of my priestly calling- ‘He had compassion for them… and you received without payment; give without payment…’
Now, as Fr. Jim once remarked, of all the sermon that he had heard over the years, 90% seemed to revolve around the preacher themselves, and while is often useful to have a personal slant, to gain your congregation trust, to help them, to help you relax, the wife’s parish priest, Fr Bill, equally said  something during one of his sermon which stuck a lasting cord with me, which was  that, his prime objective was to make himself redundant, but as the three religious sisters in the parish would often joke among themselves, if he continued to delegated any more, he may  indeed find himself out of a job, and end up, sat there twiddling his fingers and thumbs  for the rest of his days. But having seen him in action, having witnessed how his parish, by- in- large,  ticks along like clockwork, he gives long, heavenly, insightful vision, that golden nugget to step back a little, to create a space, a trusted environment by which the parishioners can reach their God-given potential, certainly has its merits. His pearls of wisdom, or not, as we can see from today’s Gospel text, are not lifted from the latest trend from a secular management handbook, but rather based upon good old- fashioned, solid Biblical teaching.
 For what does Jesus do as the compassion in His heart bubbles over, as He encounters the harassed, the helpless crowd, like a field of frisky sheep, running here, there and everywhere? Does He roll up His sleeves and set about trying to solve,  trying to correct, trying to  manage all of the world’s problems single-handedly. Or does He actually, have the foresight to allow others to cut their teeth, to get out there into the harvest fields and put into practice some of the ministerial training which He has been sharing with the inner twelve disciples.
You see, our text teaches us so much about being spiritual shepherds for the Lord. This text doesn’t waste anytime time, in reminding us not to burn ourselves out, not to go running after the sheep grazing in other fields. No, it clearly states that our time, our energy – is far better spent, focusing our attention towards those whom we already know, those who belong to our breed, our field,  our sheep, our people, who  for a whole host of creditable reasons, have, over the years,  developed some distance, some breathing space, between the divine and themselves. This, as I chat with people, while doing my Ward hospital visits, is often understandable, as the established Church, those appointed as spiritual shepherds, have behaved shamelessly; they sadly haven’t shown the least bit of pastoral support, of heavenly love, when people have approached them as stepping stones, when the Holy Spirit has ignited that spark of interest deep within their souls.
The questions, the needs, the demands, which the original 12 disciples encountered, are not much different from those of our own time. But the good news is, we can, turn the tide, we can slowly, genuinely right the wrong. Not by beating people into submission. Not  by ramming the bible down people’s throats, bombard with high- fluting theological doctrine, nor by introducing them to a strict pattern liturgy worship so regimental, that they are a nervous wreck, so frightened that heaven forbid, they should wrong stand when everyone else is sitting, neither is the answer, to throw cause to the wind, for us to be so obsessed with not upsetting anyone, that we end up ignoring their sinful ways, that we stand back and say nothing about their miss guided approach to life. Instead,  what we can do, what we must do is to lead by  example; to show them the reality, that even with our willingness to walk with the Lord, our lives will still be peppered with loss, confusion and moments of tremendous pain. And yet, isn’t always the case that during times when our vulnerabilities are brought to the surface, when our weaknesses are on display for all to view, we encounter periods of tremendous growth  as we are spiritually, emotionally and physically cleansed.
Not a role for the faith-heart, I will, grant you, but please never allow fear of others, or even self- doubt, to allow others to write you off, for ‘warts and all’  never forget that we are all vital pieces in the Lord’s eternal plan for salvation. And  to prove this point, I have recently come into possession of a Memo from the Jordan Management Consultants of Jerusalem – addressed simply to Jesus, Son of Joseph, Woodcrafter, Carpenter Shop, Nazareth, entitled " The Management Potential of the 12 Apostles", and it reads like this: Dear Sir, Thank you for submitting the resumes of the 12 men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; we have not only run the results through our computer but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant. It is the staff's opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper.
Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty.
Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale.
Matthew (we feel that it is our duty to tell you) has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau.
James, the son Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic depressive scale.
One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man.
All of the other profiles are self-explanatory. We wish you every success in your new venture.