The Memorial of Saint John Eudes
The Lord's word came to me, saying, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, 'The Lord God says: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You kill the fatlings, but you don't feed the sheep. You haven't strengthened the diseased. You haven't healed that which was sick. You haven't bound up that which was broken. You haven't brought back that which was driven away. You haven't sought that which was lost, but you have ruled over them with force and with rigor. They were scattered, because there was no shepherd. They became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth. There was no one who searched or sought."
"'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the Lord's word: "As I live,"says the Lord God, "surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, and my shepherds didn't search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep, Therefore, you shepherds, hear the Lord's word!" The Lord God says: "Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. The shepherds won't feed themselves any more. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them."
"'For the Lord God says: "Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, They comfort me.
You prepare a table before me In the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the Lord's house forever.
"For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'So they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?'
"They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.'
"He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.'
"When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.' "When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, Saying, 'These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!'
"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn't you agree with me for a denarius? Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. Isn't it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?' So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen."
Saint John Eudes was a 17th-century French priest who spent his life reforming seminary education and founding congregations devoted to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary — a man who understood, from the inside, what good shepherding actually costs.
And that's exactly where these readings meet us today.
Ezekiel's words are uncomfortable in the best possible way. The prophet isn't addressing obvious villains — he's speaking to people who held real responsibility and quietly turned it inward. They wore the wool. They ate well. The flock, meanwhile, wandered. Notice how the failure Ezekiel describes isn't dramatic betrayal — it's a slow drift toward self-service dressed up as leadership. We know this temptation. It shows up in how we parent, how we manage, how we lead a volunteer committee or a small group at church. The question isn't whether we hold some kind of shepherd's role — most of us do — but whether we're feeding the sheep or feeding ourselves.
Then comes the parable of the vineyard workers, and here the ground shifts beneath us. The landowner's generosity offends the people who worked longest. There's an honesty in that reaction — it's deeply human to feel that fairness means proportionality. But the master's logic isn't proportional; it's lavish. God's mercy doesn't run on a ledger. The last hired receive the same wage as the first, not because their labor was equal, but because the master's goodness is not constrained by our accounting.
John Eudes spent decades building structures — seminaries, communities — so that future shepherds would be formed in that same lavish generosity. He understood that good shepherding flows from an encounter with a God who searches for the lost, not a God who waits to be impressed.
As we move through this day, consider:
Where are we quietly feeding ourselves at the expense of those in our care? When someone else receives what feels like more than their share, what does our reaction reveal about how we understand God's generosity? And what would it look like, concretely today, to seek out someone who feels lost or overlooked?