Baa Baa

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture… thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds. I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have banished them and bring them back to their folds; there they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear or be terrified; none shall be missing—oracle of the Lord.” -Jeremiah 23:1-4

“When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” -Mark 6:34

Sunday’s readings speak to those who feel ignored or injured by leaders in the Church. Earlier last week, Pope Francis issued a motu proprio Traditionis custodes placing restrictions on Traditional Latin Mass communities. This is a response to TLM communities that have become enclaves of division, some denying Vatican II, the pope, and liturgical reforms. Pope Francis said that Pope Benedict XVI decision to allow for the celebration of the TLM “intended to recover the unity of an ecclesial body with diverse liturgical sensibilities, was exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division.”

The decision has caused members of those communities to feel abandoned by the Church; bishops that want to shut down TLM communities certainly will. Some will reluctantly obey and go to ordinary form Masses, but others will simply walk from Church (kind of proving the pope’s point about them denying Vatican II reforms).

Regardless of who’s right or wrong in this particular situation, there are a lot of people hurting and feeling like they have no shepherd right now. And every day there people feeling that way, sometimes for imagined injuries or being rightfully corrected, sometimes for very real injuries, abandonment, abuse, or clericalism. Leaders have a responsibility for the souls of their flock, but often sheep are lost.

Some deacons, priests, and bishops work hard to care for those under them, but way too often, they treat the vocation as any other job. They lord over their position or bully those below them or simply don’t seek out those hurting or lost.

I wouldn’t want that responsibility. God says that shepherds who fail to care for the sheep will be punished. The more responsibility one has, the harder it is to enter the kingdom of heaven. Those that hurt or abandon people under their authority will have to answer to God; I feel like there are far fewer bishops and popes in heaven than we think.

But God knows all his sheep, and He sees the pain we experience. Christ came to comfort the afflicted and offer salvation to all. He is the Good Shepherd, the one to seeks out the lost sheep and protects the flock. We may suffer from poor leadership and have our faith damaged, but God promises that we “need no longer fear or be terrified.”