Goats Rule!

[Homily Sunday 8:30 Mass]  Who doesn’t like sheep?   They give us wool for warmth and food, such as lamb chops giving rise to that famous Lamb Chop children know – that’s the lamb brought to life by puppeteer Shari Lewis accompanied by her Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy.  

Today’s Gospel told us we are the sheep that hear Jesus’ voice.   We sung in our Responsorial Psalm that we are the sheep of his flock.  In the second reading from the Book of Revelation we heard that Jesus is our shepherd leading us to springs of life-giving water.  We also heard that Jesus is the Lamb of God.  

All this talk about sheep reminds us of an old and familiar nursery rhyme. “Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow, and everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.”  This nursery rhyme highlights those attractive traits of sheep.  They are calm, obedient, rarely cause trouble, and they are good followers. 

What does it mean to be a good follower?  We have some children’s games that highlight following.  There’s “Follow the Leader” where everyone lines up behind the leader and must do what the leader does.   We have “Simon Says” where we must do or follow what Simon says.   We do as we’re told, and that makes us “good.”  Well, not necessarily.

In a way, we act like sheep when we follow without hesitation because we want to be obedient.  We often want to simply please the leader whom we may look up to and respect.  Perhaps that person has charisma and we’re drawn to him or her.

Now it’s a good thing to be sheep when we are following Jesus – following and imitating his way.  Feeding the hungry; clothing the naked; welcoming strangers; and visiting the sick and those in prison.  He is a great leader! 

For example, he makes it clear that love and faith are the ultimate ingredients for mountain-moving leadership.  He also helps us understand that the true path to great leadership is to be humble and to look for the greatness in others.  Jesus helps us realize that true leaders act with integrity and expect their followers to do the same.

Yes, it’s a very good thing to follow the right leaders, but often we choose the wrong leaders –
those who pursue their own goals at the expense of others – those who are self-serving.  They fool us into doing their bidding just because they say so, and then we naively believe they know what they are doing and for the good of many.

With this being an election year, we all must be careful not to follow the wrong leader whoever he or she might be.   Good and trustworthy leaders are very hard to find.

Giving more thought to sheep and following our shepherd Jesus, perhaps a better choice would be for us to be goats.   I have a preference for goats.  Every goat has its own personality, and they can climb.  Yes, we know Jesus said the sheep were on his right and the goats on his left, with the goats not faring too well.   

We should have sympathy for a special kind of goat – scapegoats on whom blame is placed for the wrong-doings of others.  That gives us even more reason to root for the goats who unfairly are blamed for evil deeds laid at their feet and, like Jesus, are sacrificed for others’ shortcomings and even their crimes.  He was sacrificed for us; he died for our sins.  Jesus was our scapegoat.    

So, being a goat might be a better first choice.  Let’s consider that goats are smart and independent, perhaps a little impulsive and prone to head butting.  Nevertheless, they see every fence or boundary as a challenge.

Goats are more like Jesus.  He helped people jump fences and cross boundaries.  He was a troublemaker and didn’t like what he saw.  He impulsively turned over the tables of the temple’s money-changers.  He took on the challenge of God being second fiddle to synagogue rules with love being secondary to obeying the law.

We end with another nursery rhyme:  “Little Bo-Beep has lost her sheep, and doesn’t know where to find them; leave them alone and they’ll come home, wagging their tails behind them.”  No, not necessarily.   When our Church loses its sheep due to Church wrong-doings and priest/deacon improper  behavior, they won’t come home on their own.  They certainly won’t be wagging their tails – just their fingers.

And we do know where to find them.  The trick is to encourage them to come home by being shown that our Church is more concerned with love than with rules.  That we see Jesus in those others might be tempted to look past.  That mercy can be found here – and why not because as Pope Francis said, “Mercy is the name of God” and this is God’s house.

And that’s why we’re all here, not as sheep that people count to put them to sleep, but as goats always willing to climb over fences for the sake of others and for Jesus.

Deacon David Pierce