This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

Reading 1,  Ezekiel 34:11-16

11 “For the Lord says this: Look, I myself shall take care of my flock and look after it.

I myself shall give them rest

12 As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so shall I look after my sheep. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of clouds and darkness.

13 I shall bring them back from the peoples where they are; I shall gather them back from the countries and bring them back to their own land. I shall pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the inhabited parts of the country.

14 I shall feed them in good pasturage; the highest mountains of Israel will be their grazing ground. There they will rest in good grazing grounds; they will browse in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel.

15 I myself shall pasture my sheep, I myself shall give them rest — declares the Lord.

16 I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the injured and make the sick strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.

In this beautiful prophecy, Ezekiel uses the old imagery of the shepherd-king and applies it first of all, not to the royal line, but to God, who comes seeking the lost sheep of Israel, scattered in the great exile and other disasters, and brings them back from their diaspora, to settle them peacefully in the land. The repeated first person verb forms and the personal pronoun in the Hebrew text emphasise the intimacy of God’s care. There seems to be disagreement about the translation of the verb which describes God’s attitude to the fat and healthy (v16). I read it as “destroy”, which chimes well with the warning to the “strong and fat” in the following verses. God settles his people but also requires justice in the flock.

Gospel, Luke 15:3-7

3 So he told them this parable: 4 ‘Which one of you with a hundred sheep, if he lost one, would fail to leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the missing one till he found it? 5 And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders

6 and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, I have found my sheep that was lost.”

7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine upright people who have no need of repentance.

I myself will pasture them

Jesus gives Ezekiel’s imagery a characteristic turn. God is gathering his flock but now the lost sheep has got lost by its own wilfulness and requires the special attention of the shepherd. The rest of the flock can be left safely grazing, while the shepherd goes to find the wanderer. Jesus’ language is as tender and passionate as Ezekiel’s but its focus is the “sinful” person, who is also the focus of his ministry. The story of Zacchaeus is a marvellous illustration of the work of Jesus the shepherd.

The “upright people who need no repentance” are the same as those “to whom little has been forgiven”(Luke 7:36ff) and therefore show less love to God. They are the “healthy who need no doctor” (Mark 2). These phrases challenge decent people not to use their decency as a barrier between themselves and God, but to share God’s joy, when sinners change their ways.