Jul-18 Liturgical Study Sixteenth Sunday
Jul-18 Sixteenth Sunday Jeremiah 23:1-6 This passage is the conclusion of the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the shepherds of Israel. The bad shepherds of the flock are the five ungodly kings of Judah (Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah) on the throne of David who have brought to ruin and scattered the descendants of Abraham and David, until the fall of Jerusalem to Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar and the destruction of Solomon's Temple in 587 BC. Christ is spoken of as a branch from David's family who will set things right. Psalm 23 King David, a mere shepherd-boy who was chosen to be the ruler over Israel, sings this psalm of Yahweh, the true Shepherd and King of men. It sounds as if he wrote it in his later years, with a fullness of experience, and a tone of subdued, quiet confidence which speaks of a heart mellowed by years, and of a faith made strong by many trials. The old king seems to be looking back with such vivid and loving remembrance to hi...