Does that description also apply to the Church today? Is God speaking prophetic words about the pastors of the Church today, as He did through Jeremiah?
Mission of Divine Mercy
Homily: 2024-07-21 Like Sheep Without a Shepherd
As he landed, he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. They were like sheep without a shepherd. That's a very dangerous situation. That things happened to the sheep when they were without a shepherd. But that would have been shocking for some of those who considered themselves and who should have been shepherds, because there were a lot of persons who should have been shepherds in Israel, the chief priests and other priests and Levites, the bhaktus of the law that the scribes who were charged with teaching, the Pharisees who considered themselves the models of following the law, and each town had its own synagogue leader who were charged with teaching and guiding. So there were all sorts of shepherds in Israel at that time. And so, yet Jesus is saying that people are like sheep without a shepherd. And so what does he do? What motivates Jesus? He doesn't say, "Well, too bad. That can't do much about that," or it doesn't just get angry or frustrated. He's motivated by love and mercy, compassion, and so what does he do? He begins to do something. He begins to teach them. And so how does this relate to what we're living right now in the church? The very first public message that the Lord had us publish a couple of months ago, February 28th, which God has done a lot of hot water. And the very first message, the Lord said, that his words, and I quote, "will give you the guidance that you need," and this is the key passage, "Now that my church is without a shepherd to tend my sheep to my children. Now that my church is without a shepherd," that's a very controversial thing to say. Who are we, the little mission of divine mercy, to say something like that? It's interesting, but because God, what he's saying here, of course, these, we believe these are prophetic words that God is giving in our time for right now. These are not words meant for a hundred years from now. These are words meant for right now. And Archbishop Gustavo, last month, and a bulletin, the public bulletin that they send out regularly, said, "We need," so this is the public message he wrote, "We need to encourage and support those who speak out for justice and truth within our community, ensuring that prophetic voices are not silenced but amplified." Let me read to you again that passage from Archbishop Gustavo one month ago, "We need to encourage and support those who speak out for justice and truth within our community, ensuring that prophetic voices, prophetic voices are not silenced but amplified." And I completely agree with what Archbishop Gustavo is saying here. And so it says, "What did Jesus do when the shepherds were lacking? He began to teach them." And so we have an example of that already in the Old Testament because that problem already began in the Old Testament. We had that in the very reading we had today. The prophet Jeremiah says, "Thus says the Lord, woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture," says the Lord, "Therefore says the Lord the God of Israel against the shepherds who shepherd my people." What have they done? He says, "You have scattered my sheep and driven them away." Has that happened in the church today? Have the sheep been scattered? Have many been driven away? He says, "You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds." Who is Jeremiah to say that against the authorities of his time? Who is he to say that? Who is he to be so disrespectful, so critical, so judgmental? If these are just his own ideas, who is he to say that? But if it's truly God himself who is telling him to say this, then he will be disobeying and disrespecting God by not saying these harsh words, severe words against the shepherds of his time, against the religious authorities of his time. We know there's so many examples of that. Many examples already in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament, for instance, John the Baptist says, "When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism." So the Pharisees and Sadducees were the chief priests, the part of the chief priests. So those were the ones who should have been shepherding the people. What does John the Baptist say? He says, "Oh, I honor you great shepherds of the people." John the Baptist says, "You brood of vipers." You brood of vipers. How's that for diplomatic language? You brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. And so he is denouncing the shepherds, the religious authorities. And so what does God say through Jeremiah? He says to God then say, "Well, that's too bad the shepherds have done doing a terrible job that I should, I wish it had been different." What does he say? What does God say that he will do? He says, "I, myself, will gather the remnant of my flock." He says that he, God himself, will act. He will act in the place of the shepherds. We had the beautiful, very well-known psalm today. The Lord is my shepherd. He guides me in right paths for his namesake, even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil. And these are very dark valleys that we're in right now. He says, "For you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage." That's probably the most famous of all psalms. The Lord is my shepherd. And also, so through many examples, Ezekiel is one of the clearest examples. The Lord speaks out about the shepherds and then he says, "I, myself, will pasture my sheep." That is God is saying that because his shepherds have failed, he himself will act. And one of the ways he acts is through the prophets, sending prophets to give the truth and the guidance that the shepherds are not giving. So this is already in the Old Testament. And then he says he will raise up a faithful leader. And so God himself sends acts by sending, one of the ways he acts is by sending prophets to speak in his name. So we know that there's false prophets also, so discernment has to be made. But the problem is there's a problem when the prophets are denouncing bad shepherds. How can those corrupt shepherds are they going to be good ones to make the discernment? If you had asked the leaders of Jeremiah's time, is Jeremiah a true prophet? Is what he's saying about you guys true? What do you think they would have said? I mean, Jeremiah was persecuted. They were going to kill him and they finally didn't kill him, they threw him in a pit. But so that's a problem we have today. The shepherds do have the role of discernment. But it's hard for them to discern when they've become corrupted and they're being denounced. The document that was just released a couple of months ago about norms for discerning alleged supernatural phenomena, there's a key passage in it. It says the members of the investigatory commission, that is those who are supposed to investigate, it says shall be, listen to this, of unquestable reputation, sure faith, certain doctrine, and proven prudence for things. And those are very important for making any discernment for anyone who's going to discern this, they should have unquestable reputation, sure faith, certain doctrine, and proven prudence. Is that the case today? How often is that the case? The very one who signed this document, Cardinal Tuccio Fernandez, there's a lot of, he's the one who wrote very questionable books about, well I won't go into it because it's not the type of stuff you'd want to talk about in the homily. And even Francis, do they have sure faith and questionable reputation, certain doctrine, and proven prudence? So that's a big problem. If the ones who are supposed to discern don't have what's needed for a good discernment. So God says that he himself will act, and we see already in the Old Testament. But the greatest example we have is when he becomes man, Jesus Christ, God become man in the flesh to shepherd his people. God come to shepherd his people, to be with his people, shepherding them. And then since he's only going to be for a certain time on this earth, then he found his church to be the mystical body which continues to be his presence for the world. But that mystical body will struggle, its members will struggle, and we have the situation we have today, and because God continues, one of the way he continues to speak and act is through prophetic messages. And it's especially important when the shepherds, like it was in the Old Testament, it is still today's prophetic messages are especially important when the shepherds are not doing their job. And so the messages, as I say that have been so difficult for our little mission that we've had to release, I think is a good example, there's other examples, but this is just one example of God speaking and God acting today. In the message that he gave to one of the messages we released, I think it was the second one, he says to the bishops, and these are again very strong words, he says, "Your hour has passed and mine begins now." And I think when he says your hour has passed, it means for those who have been unfaithful to their mission, their time has passed, and mine begins now, my hour, the hour in which my plan is revealed for what it is, infinite, powerful, unshakeable radiance, my plan advances inexorably, that is it's omnipotent, nothing can stop it, a plan of mercy and justice, a plan of goodness and power. My plan to reconquer my children, my church and all of my creation. And so that's speaking about God acting, as scripture says so often, God himself acting to shepherd his people, to speak and to teach as Jesus taught in the gospel, to teach his people, to guide them. And so I want to make a distinction now, a distinction that the messages make, this was the second message, it identifies three distinct groups among the shepherds. There are the good shepherds, and there's a lot of good shepherds today, whom the Lord encourages. He says, "I have faithful shepherds, the joy of my heart, who united to my Jesus, works ceaselessly to guide my sheep into the fold, and how they are hated and persecuted. They will receive the crown of martyrdom for this witness, and that their work and my honor." And in fact, the third message is devoted to these, to the good shepherds, who exist today and who are really struggling. But then there's also those who had good intentions perhaps, but who have strayed and are now being called to repentance. So there's a severe but loving message for them. He says, "How many small battalions I have formed throughout the world on each continent, who are hungry for the truth, hungry for me, and have been abandoned by those who have become a stumbling block to me, that is, my priest sons, to whom I have given the mandate and mission to care for my sheep, to protect them and nourish them with my sacred food." So he's saying, "I have chosen them to be true shepherds," but he says, "but these shepherds have fallen asleep and have abandoned you, my children, the vast majority of them." So he's calling out to those who have the shepherds who have strayed. He's telling them how much he needs them to come back. And he's calling them to wake up because it's urgent. And then he speaks to the bishops. He says, "You are so blinded that you do not see how you are being used and manipulated. I speak to you, my sons, who are once sincere in following me. You have not only let the smoke of Satan infiltrate into my sanctuary, but again, this is a strong language, but you have allowed a whole army of demons to take your places. You have not recognized the wolves that surround you. You have received them as true shepherds. And instead of speaking only my words, my truth, you have let them howl and you have begun to imitate them as well." And so if this is just us saying this, that's very, what's the word? I mean, very outrageous. But if this is God saying this, then it's very important to listen. So that's the second group. These words are to wake up those who had good intentions but have strayed. But then there's a third group, those who are steadfast, those who have evil intentions and they remain with their evil intentions. And those are the ones that he talked about, those who are like Judas, who are wolves and serpents with evil intentions. And so we have to distinguish not all the shepherds are bad. There are many good shepherds. And then there are shepherds who have good intentions but have strayed. But then there are those who have infiltrated with evil intentions. And another distinction is to distinguish between the office of the shepherd and then the person and then the sin. The office is holy. Jesus has founded his church with sacred ministers. And it would be false to reject, say, "Well, I want a church without any sacred ministers." It's Jesus himself who has founded his church with the apostles and the bishops are their successors and one who is the head of them who is Peter and the successors of Peter as the vicar of Christ on earth and then the priest and the deacons. And so it would be wrong to reject those offices. The offices are from the Lord. For instance, many of our Protestant brothers, they think that they have to reject all of that. And for instance, there's a very, I mean, someone like Saint John Paul, the second was very special to our little communion to many of us. But so there's the office which is holy. Then there's the persons and the persons we should pray for them, we should love them. Many of these shepherds had good intentions but they're confused because they've been taught to obey and so they're very confused because of the formation and the teaching they've gotten. And others want to speak out but they know that they'll lose their ministry if they do and they think, "Well, maybe it's better that I not speak out yet to be able to continue to minister." And that's very understandable. So there's the persons and we should pray and love the persons involved. But then there's the sin and we should hate the sin especially when it's hurting God's children. So respect the office, love and pray for the person and hate the sin. So what should we do in this situation of sheep without a shepherd? And we see the example of Jesus who had compassion, mercy on them. And so he acts with love and truth. And so that should always guide us, love and truth, to always be loving but also truthful and always be truthful but also loving. Both for the shepherds and also for the faithful, especially helping those who are confused and scandalized by what they're seeing. And so not engaging in gossip but seeking to do God's will in love. And so just to conclude in this situation of Jesus had, the gospel says, "Compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd." And he began to teach them many things. And so with our blessed mother, we have to be open to the crisis in the church of the shepherds who are not doing their job, of the shepherds who are good in need support, or the shepherds who some of them even intentionally are corrupting and misleading the sheep. And we know the Lord says that he himself will act. He is our shepherd. And so what that means for us is to listen to him when he is speaking today, when he's given his prophetic words today, when he's guiding us today. So we're living in extraordinary times, difficult times of battle. The times in which in very clear ways, God, you know, the carerism of the mission of my mercy is, you remember what it is, faith so that God can act. And that's happening today. He says he will act in a much more manifest, powerful way. But he's already acting through the messages. And again, we've heard so many witnesses of people who have come here or have contacted us, telling us how they're experiencing God acting, God speaking to them, God giving them peace and strength in these times. So these are difficult times that already God is acting, acting to shepherd his people. The Lord is our shepherd, amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]