Mary is the mother of the King of Kings, so today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary. We celebrate Mary as the Queen of heaven and earth one week after we celebrated her Assumption into heaven body and soul. Pope Pius XII established the feast of the Queenship of Mary in 1954, but like most doctrine and dogma declared about Mary, the faithful for centuries had believe this before it was officially declared so by the Church.
Mary always points us to her son. The readings we hear today point to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, foreshadowed by the message the prophet Ezekiel delivers to the people of Ancient Israel, as he bemoans the facts that the shepherds, the leaders who should have been caring for the people, have instead been looking out for themselves and have been abandoning their leadership responsibilities. God instead tells them He himself will look after and tend his sheep.
The Lord sent Jesus to be our true shepherd, to lead and guide his flock. Many may say that they follow the teachings and the call of Jesus the Good Shepherd, yet in reality, the lives of so many are dominated by the values and pleasures of our secular world. In the parable of the landowner who pays the laborers the same wage no matter how much they had worked, perhaps God is demonstrating for us his great mercy and compassion. Perhaps we are called to show this same love and mercy to our brothers and sisters.
Our Catholic faith has a rich, wonderful tradition of social teachings that sees the dignity in each human life and works toward the common good in our society. With the Lord as our shepherd, may we all live out lives in peace and justice as we travel along our journey of faith.
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