Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 17, 2022 - Wednesday in the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 34:1-11 and Matt 20:1-16]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......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.... [Ezekiel]
WEDNESDAY, ST. HYACINTH OF POLAND OP.
I remember, as a Dominican student brother, coming across today's passage and being scared to death! How would I be able to take on the responsibility of "shepherd?" Ezekiel takes dead aim at the leadership of the Jewish people in exile and accuses them of corruption. Jesus would do the same and earn the lethal enmity of the Jewish leadership of his own time! (cf. Matt. 23).
In his first encyclical, Evangelii gaudium, Pope Francis dwells on the image of the shepherd and says that a shepherd should have "the smell of the sheep." He points out that the shepherd has to be not only at the head of the flock to lead, but also in the middle to encourage and at the back to gather the stragglers.
One of my principal ministries in the last 20 years or so has been preaching retreats for clergy. The vast majority of them have been hard-working (overworked?) and zealous. But, one of the principal challenges facing them is to realize that they do not have to do it all by themselves! The abundance of "lay ministries" since the Second Vatican Council provides a tremendous resource if only pastors would learn to delegate. Underneath all of this is the ever-tempting abuse of power, which is what Ezekiel is really aiming at. Priests and other parish ministers must constantly be alert to the way power is exercised for the benefit of the flock and not for the benefit of the minister! "Empowering" others is the goal. Ezekiel and Jesus are watching! AMEN