Reading of the Word of God

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Micah 7,14-15.18-20

With shepherd's crook lead your people to pasture, the flock that is your heritage, living confined in a forest with meadow land all round. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old! As in the days when you came out of Egypt, grant us to see wonders! What god can compare with you for pardoning guilt and for overlooking crime? He does not harbour anger for ever, since he delights in showing faithful love. Once more have pity on us, tread down our faults; throw all our sins to the bottom of the sea. Grant Jacob your faithfulness, and Abraham your faithful love, as you swore to our ancestors from the days of long ago.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

The prophet Micah invokes God who, like a shepherd, cares for his flock, Israel. He is aware that the Lord has cared for his people ever since he brought them out of Egypt, freeing them from Pharaoh's slavery. With the image of the shepherd he evokes the attentive and caring care, the protection of the unity of the otherwise dispersed flock, the defence of the sheep, even at the cost of his own life. And he invokes the shepherd to continue to act in favour of his people. There are two ways in which this divine intervention will show itself. The first is forgiveness: "Who is God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgressions of the remnant of your possession?" The second, faithfulness in love: 'He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." The Lord is indeed the good shepherd who cares for his people, starting precisely from forgiveness, which more than any other reveals who the God of Israel is and how different he is from idols. The image of the shepherd will be taken up by Jesus: he himself presents himself as the shepherd who knows his sheep, calls them by name and brings them into the fold. And, if there is one that gets lost, he leaves the others to go and look for it. Let us pray to the Lord that we may listen to his voice of a good shepherd and be one flock, being guided only by him and learning to live his mercy.