Liturgical Providence

The first reading for tomorrow’s Mass in the Ordinary Form. As a matter of policy, I do not cite the Bible in the “colorless, odorless, gaseous paraphrase” currently approved for liturgical use in the United States, the New American Bible, but perhaps this once we can make an exception, since it is the version that will be heard by most English-speaking Catholics in the United States, and does not traduce the meaning of the original as aggressively as usual.

“Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD. Therefore, 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 driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD. Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: ‘The LORD our justice.’ ” (Jeremiah 23, 1-6)