He rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray

14 AUGUST (Mt 18,1-5.10.12-14)

The shepherd must take care of the sheep. He must shepherd them in all wisdom and intelligence. He must consecrate his life to them. In the Old Testament God always complains of the shepherds. These do not take care of his flock. They do not lead it onto the good way of obedience to the truth, they do not feed it on the good Word of God.

Thus the word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, in these words prophesy to them (to the shepherds): Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep? You have fed off their milk, worn their wool, and slaughtered the fatlings, but the sheep you have not pastured. You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost, but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered and wandered over all the mountains and high hills; my sheep were scattered over the whole earth, with no one to look after them or to search for them. Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have been given over to pillage, and because my sheep have become food for every wild beast, for lack of a shepherd; because my shepherds did not look after my sheep, but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep; because of this, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God: I swear I am coming against these shepherds. I will claim my sheep from them and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep so that they may no longer pasture themselves. I will save my sheep, that they may no longer be food for their mouths. For thus says the Lord God: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the foreign lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel (in the land’s ravines and all its inhabited places). In good pastures will I pasture them, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing ground. There they shall lie down on good grazing ground, and in rich pastures shall they be pastured on the mountains of Israel. I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord God. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal (but the sleek and the strong I will destroy), shepherding them rightly (Cf. Ez 34,1-31).

Even at the time of Jesus the shepherds pastured themselves. They took no interest in any way of the flock of His Father. If a sheep strayed, they left it in its loss, if it got lost, they left it to its perdition. Even if any of these, by the grace of God, had repented and had tried to get back into the fold, they shut the door to it so that it did not enter. It had to remain lost forever. The sheep were living a state of great spiritual distress.

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.

Not only does Jesus not want any sheep to be lost, not only does he desire that the doors of his flock are always open to all, he also wants that if a sheep goes astray, the shepherd goes to look for it so that it is brought back into the fold. Jesus wants shepherds in all like him, able to give their life for the sheep that the Father has entrusted to them. He does not want shepherds that spend their days in the greatest sloth. Jesus came from heaven to look for his sheep. This must the shepherds do.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints give us good shepherds.