21 July 2024 - 16th Sunday "B”
Jer 23:1-6; Eph 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34
Homélie
In the Old Testament, three figures play important and complementary roles within the people of Israel: the king, who holds political authority; the priest, who carries out the religious rituals; and the prophet, who, often at the risk of his own life, reminds the king, the priest and the people of their duties and sins, and of God's expectations of them.
As we know, throughout his apostolic activity, Jesus was not in the royal line, nor in that of the Levitical priest, but in the perilous line of the prophets. And he paid for it with his life.
In the first reading of today's Mass, we have a fine example of a prophet - in this case, Jeremiah - who does not hesitate to severely rebuke the political authorities and priests, announcing that God would one day send a worthy descendant of David who would "act with understanding" and exercise "justice and righteousness in the land".
Saint Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, speaks of the same Messiah, Jesus, who, he says, in his own person "killed hatred" and came "to proclaim the good news of peace".
Jesus was so concerned about all the practical needs of the crowds that followed him or came to him, that it would be quite wrong and almost obscene for us to read all these beautiful texts presented to us in today's liturgy without relating them not only to the events of our daily lives, but also to the tragic events that are shaking various parts of the world today, claiming so many victims. The Holy Father has invited us on several occasions to pray for peace, which we will do in particular during this Eucharist; but it is also the duty of every Christian to confront the situation on the ground with these biblical texts. Without setting ourselves up as individual judges, we can - and indeed we must - allow the Word of God to pass judgement on the actions of those involved.
I come from a large family where, even though we were a very close-knit family, the children sometimes squabbled, as in any self-respecting family. And when our mother or father intervened, it wasn't unusual for one of us to say: "He started it! Such an attitude, between children, had no serious consequences and, in general, in such circumstances, the parents would say to the eldest: "it's you who should be more reasonable". But when human lives are sacrificed day after day to these childish games indulged in by adults with a large collection of murderous toys, it's a different story.
Jesus had pity on the crowds because, as the Gospel text says, "they were like sheep without a shepherd". Today, faced with an international community incapable of stopping the murderous games of a few grown-up children, and incapable of stopping the systematic destruction of a few countries, this immense international community appears more and more like a vast flock without a shepherd. Let us therefore pray to the Lord to give each of the peoples shepherds who are capable of putting the value of peace above all calculations of interests.
Let us also pray that all religious leaders throughout the world will have the courage and wisdom to continue the mission of the Old Testament prophets, assumed by Jesus, and that they will know how to call things by their names and allow the Gospel to shed its harsh light on everyone's actions, beyond all the vague and ineffective general appeals for moderation.
During this Eucharist, let us pray for all the victims of the current conflicts, on whatever side they may be; but let us also ask God to change the hearts of all those who cause this suffering; and let us also pray that all those who have the power and the duty to take the decisions that would put an end to these conflicts will have the honesty and the courage to do so.
Armand Veilleux