Wednesday 19 August 2020

Today is Wednesday the 19 August in the 20th week of Ordinary Time.

Michael George and the Corydon Singers, conducted by Matthew Best sing Libera Me from Fauré’s Requiem. ‘Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death, on that dread day when the heavens and earth shall quake and you shall come to judge the earth by fire.’

Today’s reading is from the Prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 34:7-11

Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.

This passage has a tone of fierce justice to it; God stepping in to sort everything out; to save the vulnerable sheep, neglected and mistreated by the greedy shepherds… What parallels can you draw to society today… of people only looking out for their own interests and ignoring and even preventing the needs of others?

There are times when all of us, no matter how good our intentions, become so wrapped up in our own affairs that we lose sight of others. We forget that love of God and love of neighbour cannot be separated. Are there times when you become so wrapped up in your life that you do not notice the needs of others? What is it that prevents you from seeing or hearing them?

“I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.” How do you feel as you hear this?

Can you hear any echoes of Jesus as the ‘Good Shepherd’ from this passage? It might seem like an obvious connection, but use your imagination…As you hear the passage again, see if you can hear any echoes and parallels to Jesus saying, “I am the Good Shepherd”…

Confident in knowing that God is a God who personally steps in and is one who sees you now, and cares for you more deeply than you do yourself, talk to God about what this reflection has stirred in you…

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.