Seamless

Back when I was in law school, I first heard an old saying that's stuck with me over the years

The law is a seamless web.

That referred to the strong interconnections between different aspects of the law.

It was a comparison, an analogy, to a spider's web.

Not the world-wide-web; not the Internet.

World-Wide-Web is probably an uncommon phrase now, people just say The Web.

But that's the full name, it's what that www stands for at the start of web addresses.

That non-place out there in the ether, in the clouds,

Where all our information and communications are linked together.

The world-wide part may go unspoken now, but it's really the most important part.

But back to the spider's web.

You pull at one part of the web and everything else moves.

Everything is affected, even distant parts are reshaped.

That can seem like a revelation to a law student focused on all the artificial divisions.

Contracts, Property, Torts, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law.

But that interconnectedness isn't really so surprising.

All of life is interconnected, holistic, an organic unity.

Even if we separate the world and different aspects of our lives

Into different artificial compartments.

Every action, every inaction, has a far reaching impact.

We've probably all thought about how some relatively minor change in our past

Would have had a profound impact on our future.

What if I had gone to a different school?

What if I had taken a different job, or moved to a different city?

What if I hadn't gone on that first date with my eventual spouse?

What if my parent's hadn't gone on theirs?

This interconnectedness of all things is one of the themes of Pope Francis' encyclical,

Laudato Si, commonly called On Care of Our Common Home.

It addresses not only the ecology, but a broad range of problems in today's world.

Problems with deep spiritual roots but real world, everyday, material impacts.

Problems that will have profound impact on our future and on our children's futures.

Unless we acknowledge them, discuss them honestly, agree on solutions,

And take the proper actions now.

But why listen to Francis?

Who is he to say?

Well, for one thing, he's the Pope.

And, at least at the moment, a very popular Pope with world-wide influence.

Among Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

He's someone not seeking a personal economic or political advantage from the solutions.

Yes, some might argue that he's pushing his own agenda.

Better treatment of the poor, a better world for future generations.

But those are goals that most everyone embraces—at least at that high level.

Francis just might have enough influence to draw and hold the world's attention to these problems.

He might have the moral authority to lead the world to acknowledge these problems as top priorities.

To make more serious attempts to agree on solutions and take action.

At the very least, Francis has shepherded these issues to world-wide attention.

All of our Scripture readings today tell of sheep and shepherds.

In Jeremiah we hear of the bad shepherds who misled and scattered the flock.

God punished them and appointed new shepherds to replace them.

Our Psalm rejoiced, The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.

In our passage from Ephesians, Paul didn't use the word sheep or lamb,

But he spoke of Jesus offering himself on the cross to reconcile us to the Father.

Jesus as the Sacrificial Lamb, the Spotless Lamb, the Lamb of God.

Our Alleluia included, My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me.

And in our Gospel, Jesus' heart was moved with pity for the vast crowd.

Because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

So, as the Good Shepherd, he stepped in and began to teach them.

This shepherd and sheep analogy has been around since at least Old Testament times.

It 's a particularly good one.

Jesus himself used it often.

We all get the picture.

But what are we?

Sheep or shepherds?

We see that Jesus was both—even simultaneously

And so are we.

When we have the ability and the authority to lead, we're called to step in.

As Jesus did and as Pope Francis is doing.

To be good shepherds.

Good parents, teachers, bosses, representatives, ministers, administrators, good examples.

When a good leader with a good cause needs followers, we're called to be good sheep.

Good citizens, children, students, workers, good supporters.

In this holistic, strongly interrelated, organic unity, seamless web of a world,

We're called on to act.

Perhaps today as a sheep, then a shepherd, and then again a sheep.

To always balance our roles.

To always use our gifts to serve in the best way we can.

16th Sunday Ordinary Time

Mk 6:30-34      Read this Scripture @usccb.org