The shepherd-leader ‘would lie down at the gate physically to protect the sheep from wolves coming into the sheepfold. He literally put his life on the line for the sheep’ (Simpson 2005).
http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222014000100020
This seems like a strange practice. The wolves are coming and the sheep’s protector lays down to protect them. It would be mighty hard to fire off a slingshot while you are laying down. Flaying with Rod and the staff would be even harder. Further, all who know about coyotes and other predators know that the best technique is called hazing. It is making yourself as big as possible and making as much noise as possible. If you lay down that coyote or wolf just might slither past you on your way to grab that lamb and then you are in real trouble. Having been shepherds for thousands of years, we must assume Jewish shepherds knew this. So, what could this statement possibly mean?
Irish slave traders sailed the waters off that same coast, and one day they came ashore to capture the teenager who became Saint Patrick and his neighbors, to sell back in Ireland. Patrick spent six years tending sheep in the west of Ireland.
How did Saint Patrick spend much of his time? His kidnappers probably spent their time elsewhere. That would explain how Saint Patrick could make his escape. His guards were not watching. Tending sheep is probably a lonely task. You do something on the hillside while the sheep eat. You probably don’t stand all that time. Sometimes you probably sit and other times, being bored, you might even lay down, your weapons ever at the ready.
The next question concerns where you would sit or lie. In planning for my ideal home I read that for 4 cows I would need five 2-acre lots. The area I would build has coyotes and wolves. I checked. I checked how to keep them out of my five 2-acre lots. The area has something called coffeeberry. The coyotes and wolves love to eat their seeds but they do grow 10 feet high. On their own, the coffeeberry looks beautiful but would not keep these dogs out.
I could build a brick wall, say 6 feet high. Coyotes at least can clear 8-foot fences with 2 feet to spare. Besides, dogs are great diggers so, my brick wall would have to be 2 feet underground. Then I would need to have another coffeeberry row on the brick wall’s other side to keep these dogs from jumping.
Then I could have dogs and donkeys in the field. Donkeys don’t much care for coyotes and would tear them apart. The wolves, they are protected animals. You can’t just kill them. Besides, what prevents the wild dogs from just going to where your gate is, so you can enter?
That is where you place your shepherd, whether animal or human. Sometimes your shepherd sits, sometimes he lays, and sometimes, especially when he hears those coffeeberries rustling, that is when he stands. Still, he must be there all the time.
The sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.
Our Gospel for this day is John 10 and like most other gospel passages, it is about leadership. The true shepherd is always amongst his sheep. He stands in a position such that to get to any sheep you have to go through him first. Yes, he will sacrifice himself for his sheep. He will stand up to impossible odds but no, he isn’t taking this laying down.
The NAME, the one you call upon, will bless you abundantly in the land the NAME, who you call upon, will give you to possess as a heritage, there shall be no one of you in need if you listen to the voice of the NAME, the one you call upon, and guard this entire Mitzvah which I enjoin on you this day. Deuteronomy 15:4-5
There will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I give you this Mitzvah: open your hand to the poor and needy kin in your land. Deuteronomy 15:11
On its face, this is a contradiction. Will there be poor in the land or not? If there is to be no poor in the land, we all must listen to his Mitzvah.
All the communities which the NAME, the one you call upon, is giving you, you shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes to administer true justice for the people. You must not distort justice: you shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes even of the wise and twists the words even of the just. Tsaddik, Tsaddik, alone shall you pursue, so that you may live and possess the land the NAME, the one you call upon, gives you. Deuteronomy 16:20
Interpreting Deuteronomy 16:20 reminds me of the story I once read in the Jerusalem Post that interpreted this passage. It reported the story of a poor farmer who only had 3/4s of an acre. As a direct result, he accidentally planted on his neighbor’s property by 1/8th acre. The neighbor, being rich and having hundreds of acres, saw this slight and took his case to his uncle, who happened to be the town judge. The town judge correctly informed this rich young farmer that, (1) being related, he, the town judge, was not qualified to hear his case. (2) Jewish law requires that all sides present their cases at the same time, that they be dressed the same, and in all ways appear equal. The rich man’s uncle then reminded his nephew that he already heard his side, but the poor man wasn’t present, so this disqualified him from hearing his case.
At this point, the rabbi informed his nephew that as his uncle he would gladly hear his case.
He then quoted Deuteronomy 16:20 and reported, “If you were a Tsaddik you would give this poor man ten of your best acres, plus send your best foreman to show him how to care for those acres. You would also send your best accountant to show him how to care for his books. Bailiff, make it happen!”
This brings us back to blessed Saint Patrick who sat in those fields all alone.
I will set a king over me, like all the surrounding nations. You may indeed set over you a king whom the NAME, the one you call upon, will choose. Someone from among your own kindred you may set over you as king; you may not set over you a foreigner, who is no kin of yours. He shall not have a great number of horses; nor shall he make his people go back again to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the NAME said, “Do not go back that way again.”
This rule applies to the king, the Hebrew word for a king is Moloch, and also means a messenger. The king is the messenger between those over and under him. He is the messenger between his peers and those under him, and he is the messenger between those who are under him. This rule, therefore, applies to the President, members of Congress, the corporate CEO and his administrators, and the union chiefs.
The greater the gap between rich and poor, the less the rich identify with the poor and their needs. We wonder how long it took for Saint Patrick’s kidnappers to realize Saint Patrick felt disenfranchised, or care, and more, how long it took to realize he was gone. This brings us back to that shepherd who lays down to guard his sheep. So-called theologians who have never been near sheep, fished with a net, tended a garden, done carpentry, or did anything Jesus and his followers did claim to be experts on how Jesus lived. They don’t even know that our opening sense makes no sense to someone who has actually tended sheep or at least read up on the subject.
They don’t speak multiple languages and have never been under occupation by a nation speaking a different language and having a different culture. Still, they know all about how Jesus lived. We’re not even sure what languages Jesus and his followers spoke at which times or their income status but they know all there is to know about Jesus.
Jesus, setting the example for leaders lives with his sheep and shows his care so much that he no longer needs whips and clubs to keep them in line. He only needs his voice. If only all leaders did this.
This brings us to the all-important closing of this gospel reading, “Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy. I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
This brings us to the second issue which this gospel reading confronts and it is an important one. What does it mean to be alive, to live? What do the founding fathers of this nation mean when they talk about life? Being schooled in the classics they would have had Aristotle in mind. John, our gospel writer would have had Deuteronomy 30:19 in mind. “I call heaven and earth today to witness against you. I have set before you, life and death, the blessing and the curse. Boker Chaim! Choose life! This is one of Judaism’s 613 Mitzvahs. How is this a Mitzvah?
Every time we see someone suffering, we must choose life for that person. What does this mean? Life is potentiality. We must help that person be all he can be to quote the old Army advertisement. The classical definition of life, which is in the Summa says that life is potentiality seeking its final end, which is happiness. If we keep this in mind, if we follow this definition as a nation, our pro-life and social justice issues will just go away. How so, the real issue in the pro-life argument isn’t when life begins or ends. It is about what life is in the meantime. If we know what life is, all we need to do is look at the pre-born and ask, “Does this meet our definition of life. 24% of abortion patients identify as Catholic. 13% identify as evangelical Protestant. This is 37% of the total. Another 17% identify as a mainline protestant. That means 54% of abortion seekers identify as Christian and know that it is wrong but something else is going on. Almost half of all abortion seekers live below the poverty line. Almost 2 in three are in their twenties or younger. They are not living life as potentiality so see no reason to try to give that potentiality to others. If we solve this second issue, making sure these ladies feel like they have real life, that is if we address the social justice issue, the first issue will just go away. This means that if we define life correctly and enforce this definition, both issues will just go away.
If we don’t? We started addressing this issue 50 years ago and we use the same arguments we used 50 years ago. We have converted nobody. Do we want to complain about our issues or do we want to solve them?
https://www.guttmacher.org/united-states/abortion/demographics
https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2020/10/people-all-religions-use-birth-control-and-have-abortions
Liberty is the ability, to have the resources to reach that end, to pursue happiness. That is in our Declaration of Independence which is the foundation for our Constitution. Without our Declaration of Independence, there is no justification for our independence from Britain and therefore our Constitution.
John 10:10 which is in our gospel for this day speaks of more than sufficient life lived. That is why Jesus came and he came to give his example. Do we follow his example or are we just thieves and robbers as Jesus says. Must Jesus go looking for other shepherds?
Comments on our Catholic Sunday Readings for our Reno, Nevada Cathedral 