At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
The Lord had always desired that the leaders of his people be shepherds who would genuinely care for their sheep. But what often proved to be the case instead was leaders who only looked to their own interests and not those of the sheep. In particular, they ignored the poor and the lowly, the lowest and the least, who had a special place in God's heart.
The Lord God says to you: Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves instead of their flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the best food and wear the finest clothes, but you let your flocks starve. You haven’t taken care of the weak, nor tended the sick, nor bound up the broken bones, nor gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with force and cruelty. So they were scattered, without a shepherd (see Ezekiel 34:3-5).
When Jesus saw the crowds who were like sheep without a shepherd his heart was moved with compassion for them. The one who had promised, "I myself will be the Shepherd of my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace" (see Ezekiel 34:15) now saw sheep, lost, wounded, troubled, and abandoned and he could not help but care for them.
How good the Gospel of the Kingdom must have seemed to these sheep who received the care of the Good Shepherd. Finally there was someone who genuinely took account of their situation, who seemed to completely disregard the fact that they were insignificant in the eyes of the world. Finally the promises of God seemed to be for them too, and not only for others.
Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
In choosing to shepherd his people by becoming incarnate as one among them Jesus accepted some limitations on whom the number of people to whom he could minister. This is why it was always also his plan to raise up shepherds after his own heart in order that he might share with them both his authority and his own mission. The Church was to be an extension in time and space of the heart of the Good Shepherd.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Unfortunately most in the world and many in the Church herself see her as something quite different. They recognize primarily an institution with rules she desires to enforce regardless of the ramifications for the world. It is not often thought that she exists for the good of the sheep who, without her, are left to wander lost. Part of this image problem is not her fault. Of course she will always have enemies who try to besmirch her reputation in any way they can. Any sort of hierarchy and authority is antithetical to some worldviews. But part of the problem is that the world tends to imbibe how we members of the Church see her. And when we see her as primarily an institution wherein we accomplish a list of obligations it is hard to blame the world for not seeing the value in that.
If we can only come to realize how much we are in fact sheep in need of a shepherd, and how we find that need met in the body of Christ, we can become compelling when we mention the Church to others. In short, if we learn to become thankful we will also become persuasive. We must first realize what we have been freely given as a gift and then set to helping to give it away to others.
It is in the Church that the Lord gives us the "bread you need and the water for which you thirst". It is by her sacraments that we receive the grace of the Holy Spirit that makes the promise contained in the prophecy of Isaiah possible for us as well:
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.
This is the care of the shepherd for which everyone longs, even if many are not fully conscious of the desire. Hearts will be restless until they finally experience and learn to rest in his care. We who have found it must not take it for granted. Let's not give the world an excuse to ignore a treasure so great.
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