"Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture”—those are words that pastors dread to hear. Yet to ones who are part of the flock, they come as a welcomed warning.

Distinguishing between leaders and followers is a little harder than might be expected. At first glance, we are tempted to point out that the leader is the person out in front. Fair enough. But who or what is he or she following? What motivates the leader to take that particular direction in the first place?

Like the apostles who gathered together to tell Jesus “all they had done and taught,” every evening at dinner my sisters and I would report to my father and mother all that we had done and learned during the day

A noticeable “buzz” spread through the wedding banquet hall. Two great-uncles of the groom, brothers who had been so close growing up but who hadn’t spoken to each other in more than 20 years, were soon going to be in the same place at the same time. How would they react?

Brought together by Christ our good shepherd, let us ask the Lord for pardon and guidance.

This is what it means to really take pity on the poor, and on those who have no one to guide them: to open the way of truth to them by teaching, to heal their physical infirmities, and to make them want to praise the divine generosity by feeding them when they are hungry.