Variety provides much needed balance

July 23, 2006 -- 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. What varieties of gifts has God endowed you with? 2. What were some of the caring / uncaring moments of your ministry? 3. How do we find unity in variety?

Someone once asked why Heinz ketchup bottles read "57 varieties." If truth be told, there are just three kinds of Heinz ketchup: regular, hot, and low-sodium. The answer to the "57 varieties" riddle is that Heinz actually has about 1,300 varieties of products including pickles, sauces, soups, and even 108 varieties of baby food.

Well, there are different varieties of shepherds as there are different kinds of parents, teachers, priests, doctors, nurses, administrators, farmers. Some are good, some bad; some are competent, some incompetent; some are holy, some are sinful.

Jeremiah the prophet tells of one variety of shepherds, the kind that misleads and scatters the sheep. He has for them a severe warning and a promise of punishment. In speaking for the Lord, Jeremiah goes on to tell of caring shepherds, who take away the fear and trembling of the sheep. These shepherds will bring justice and security to the people.

The distinction between caring and uncaring shepherds might be too neat and clear. Do not all leaders - parents, teachers, politicians, ministers - struggle with grace and sin? At times they are truly dedicated to the good of others; at other times, they have to deal with self-interest and their own ambition. Motives are mixed. Life is not terribly neat and clear; it is messy.

Jesus, trying to help the apostles achieve some balance in their hectic lives, told them to find some solitude in a deserted place, come face to face with people in great need. Jesus saw the crowds as being without guides and leaders. This moved him to pity, then to action. He himself, the good shepherd, taught them many things.

Variety is the spice of life, or so they say. Work and rest, reaching out and reaching in, action and contemplation - these are the polarities seeking some resolution or at least balance. To live on one side of the ledger can endanger one's physical, psychological, and even spiritual health. Yet, when the rubber hits the road, it is the need of our neighbor that has priority. This principle, however, cannot exempt any leader from taking some personal time for inner renewal.

And if there is any one person who exemplifies variety, it is St. Paul. His life is a witness to graced energies that reached out in many, many directions. His preaching, writing, suffering, and traveling activities reveal a person committed to God's kingdom and the person of Jesus. In today's passage from Ephesians, it is the theme of peace that haunts St. Paul. For him, Jesus has made possible right relationships that are the foundation of peace.

It was in 1892 that Henry J. Heinz, founder of the Heinz company, conceived the slogan "57 varieties." Although the number is not accurate nor carries any mystical meaning, it does capture the imagination and makes us ask about what those varieties might be. Jesus, too, captures our imagination by calling us to a variety of ministries, far more than 57, but works that are all about caring for the temporal and spiritual being of others. Hopefully, none of the varieties will turn "sour with sinning."

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)