19 August 2020 – Wednesday of 20th week in Ordinary Time – Ezekiel 34:1-11

       Well, the first thing that hit me when I was looking at the readings and seeing the date - I just can’t believe it is in the middle of August already.  Ever since March when things shut down during the pandemic, we have been living these strange surreal lives, haven’t we?  Our normal lives and normal routines have been disrupted.  Most of the things we had planned were just thrown out the window.  For me, with a normally heavy workload, my work has just increased, not decreased.  And with a routine that is so out of wack, I guess a lot of us are struggling for direction and a foundation in our lives.  In the context of this pandemic reality, we hear about sheep and shepherds in a couple of our readings today. This is so relevant to what we are going through today in our lives, because more than ever, we need good shepherds and good leaders to lead us and guide us.  Jesus as the good shepherd is one of our strongest images of him.  In the Gospels, it talks about Jesus looking out at the people and having compassion for them, because he sees them as sheep without a shepherd. We hear in Ezekiel today not of good shepherds, but of shepherds who do not take care of their flock, who rather look for gaining advantage for themselves, not for the well-being of their sheep.  They enjoy the benefits of having a flock of sheep, drinking their milk and dressing themselves with their wool, but rather than be grateful and gracious to their flock, they are shown mistreatment in return. Ezekiel sees the shepherds of Israel, the rulers of the people, as neglecting their flock.  They do not care for the weak.  They do not seek out the lost.  They allow them to be preyed upon without coming to their defense.    

        In answer to this situation, Ezekiel says that God will call his shepherds to account and will become their shepherd himself, looking after his flock and keeping it in his loving view.  We need good shepherds in society, for sure, even in normal circumstances, but especially now during these challenging times. We need good shepherds in our Church and in our government. However, in addition, we need good shepherds in many facets of society: good parents, good teachers, good medical personnel, good first responders.  May we challenge our leaders in society to be good shepherds. May we challenge ourselves to be good shepherds as well.