There is an ancient tradition in the Church that reminds the shepherds that they better take their job seriously. You know theLatin word shepherd is where we get the word Pastor and yes, bishops and priests are called to be good shepherds. St John Chrysostom who became a powerful bishop was terrified of the responsibility and never wanted to be even a priest for that reason, but he became both a powerful priest and bishop. He later said that when shepherds took their roles lightly it had terrible effects on the flock, hence his famous words “The road to Hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.”

However, bishops and priests are not the only shepherds. At your baptism, you entered Christ’s ministry of Priest, Prophet and King each and everyone of you is part of what is  known as the priesthood of the laity. It is different from the priesthood of the ordained. However, it is a special role where you have a call to be a source of Jesus’ light in the world around you.

We can all often take that responsibility for granted and even misunderstand the role of priesthood of the laity and priesthood of the ordained. What is worse is when we misunderstand it and feel that it is no longer necessary. Then our ministry of shepherding others as priests or parents or neighbors or leaders or politicians or public servants, etc becomes weak. Normally that would not be a problem if there was no God and all that we believe was just silliness. However, everyday I live, I come to understand that fortunately everything we believe is true and unfortunately, everything we believe is true.

You see the ancient teachings of the saints were that without God, we are left to our own devices and our inclination to sin turns utopia into disaster, every time. We are incapable on our own of building a society without God, because when we do, we create a world where the powerful exploit the powerless, making the powerful more powerful and the powerless more powerless until there is a radical change and society collapses only to start again.

Pope Paul VI explained that  the reason why this happens is because what we believe is true, including there is a personal reality of evil that seeks to undermine and destroy everything. He also  explains that this is why we know such a reality exists, whom we call the devil. If the atheists were right, we could build a perfect society. Yet every time people walk down that path, something undermines it which does not fit into the equation and he explains that is the evidence of the reality of his existence.

In the TV and Movie series Star Trek, the Utopian society is achieved. In fact, money does not even exist in that world, everyone works for the good of the other. That is fiction, in the real world the perfect utopian society falls apart due to some human embrace of sin. Star Trek is no where near as realistic as is Jurassic Park, built on that principle that I just explained.

When the shepherd is weak, that evil reality becomes strong, until only through a divine intervention is the evil put to rest. That is demonstrated many times in the bible, the most famous is when Aaron helps the people build a golden calf in the absence of Moses. That is also what Sodom and Gomorrah is all about. There were no shepherds in that village anymore and no righteous people. There were just people corrupted by evil and that evil was growing exponentially. Ten righteous people could have changed their fate. There were none but Lot.

That is why we all must take seriously our role as shepherd, me as pastor and you as participants in the ministry of Christ as indicated by your baptismal promises. Do you want proof?

You probably saw in the news this week that an abortion provider was accused of selling the organs of unborn babies. It was even explained that the unborn baby had to be handled to ensure the organs were not damaged in the abortion so that they could be used by those who pay to receive them.

The provider denied nothing in that edited interview except that they sold such organs, they explain that they donate them. The recipient research agency need only pay for shipping and handling. They admitted freely being in the work of supplying organs of unborn children aborted in their franchised facilities for scientific research.  This is funded by grants which fund the institutions themselves some of which have been diligently working to silence us because we reject the whole enterprise.

It has long been suspected that there is a market in the research and commercial worlds for parts of aborted children. Now the news has come out and the abortion provider admits it, although it does not admit there is any selling going on, just paying for shipping and handling. That makes aborted children as potentially marketable a commodity as rice and beans. Congress wants hearings.

This is the kind of evil that happens when the shepherd is asleep and we are the shepherds. Remember that is not the world that you grew up in, but it is the world that is shepherding your children and grandchildren as long as the shepherd remains asleep.

We can no longer afford to be asleep. we need to wake up: everyone of us, and be the Church Christ calls us to be. For when we are asleep, the road to hell becomes paved and lighted with fancy billboards and pretty trees and bushes that hide its true evil.

It is time for the shepherd to wake up.

Go home and pray, commit to daily prayer, consider also the rosary and bible study, continue therefore in 1 and 2 Peter this month and be strong in your Catholic faith as you lead others through those doors.

I cannot emphasize enough the need to be part of our parish novena on weeknights starting on August 6-14. We truly need to be awake, sober and alert Words you will find in the fifth chapter of the First Letter of Peter.

God Bless You,

Fr. Robert J Carr

Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find on Youtube. He also has a regular radio program on WebRadio Canção Nova. Which he podcasts on Mixcloud and here on Catholicismanew.
You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr and on Google Plus as +Fr. Robert Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook