Feria Secunda infra Hebdomadam I in Quadragesima
Commemoratio S. Petri Damiani, Episcopi, Confessoris et Ecclesiæ Doctoris
The sacred liturgy of this Lenten feria places before us two solemn and consoling truths: the tender solicitude of God the Shepherd (Ezechiel 34:11–16) and the awe-inspiring judgment of Christ the King (Matthew 25:31–46). In these passages, mercy and justice meet; they are not opposed but reveal the same divine Heart.
“Behold, I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them.” (Ezech. 34:11)
I. The Lord Who Seeks His Sheep
Through the prophet Ezechiel, the Lord speaks in the first person: “I myself.” After rebuking the negligent shepherds of Israel, God promises that He Himself will search for the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak. This is no distant deity, but a God who stoops down.
St. Gregory the Great, in his Homilies on the Gospels, sees in this prophecy the mystery of the Incarnation:
“He sought us when He came among us; He found us when He redeemed us.”
The seeking of the sheep is accomplished in Christ, who declares: “I am the Good Shepherd.” The Shepherd’s staff is the Cross; His pasture is truth; His fold is the Church.
Yet the prophecy contains a warning:
“The fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in judgment.”
The Fathers frequently interpret the “fat sheep” as those who grow complacent in abundance, neglecting charity. St. Augustine remarks that spiritual fatness can become pride when one forgets that all nourishment comes from God. Thus, Lent becomes a remedy against such spiritual overgrowth. Fasting weakens the body, but it strengthens humility. We learn again that we are sheep in need of guidance.
II. The King Who Judges the Nations
If Ezechiel shows us the Shepherd seeking, St. Matthew shows us the same Lord seated upon the throne of glory. The Son of Man comes with His angels, and all nations are gathered before Him.
The criterion of judgment is strikingly concrete:
“I was hungry and you gave me to eat… I was a stranger and you took me in.”
St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, warns that Christ does not ask about mystical ecstasies or hidden knowledge, but about works of mercy:
“He who neglects the poor neglects Christ, for He has said: ‘Thou didst it not to one of the least of these, neither didst thou do it to Me.’”
The Shepherd who seeks the lost is the same King who identifies Himself with the least. There is no separation between love of God and love of neighbor. Indeed, the authenticity of the former is tested by the latter.
St. Augustine presses this point with characteristic clarity:
“If you wish to find out how much you love Christ, consider how much you love His members.”
Thus, the Lenten path is not merely interior penance but active charity. Almsgiving is not optional adornment; it is preparation for judgment.
III. Lent in the Light of Judgment and Mercy
Why does Holy Mother Church place this Gospel at the beginning of Quadragesima? Because Lent is a season of truth. The Shepherd seeks us now so that the King may not condemn us later. The time of mercy precedes the day of justice.
St. Peter Damian, whose commemoration we keep today, was a fearless reformer who called clergy and laity alike to repentance. He understood well that divine mercy is not indulgence but transformation. In one of his letters he writes that penance is “the plank after shipwreck.” The Shepherd throws this plank to us in Lent. But we must grasp it.
The judgment scene in Matthew 25 is not meant to paralyze but to awaken. The King does not invent new criteria at the end of time; He reveals what was always true: that every act of mercy toward the needy was an encounter with Him.
IV. A Lenten Examination
These readings invite us to examine ourselves:
- Have I allowed myself to be found by the Shepherd, or do I resist His crook?
- Do I recognize Christ in the poor, the inconvenient, the suffering?
- Is my fasting joined to almsgiving and prayer, as the Fathers insist?
St. Gregory teaches that the sheep are separated not by outward appearance but by inward charity manifested in deeds. Lent trains the heart to love concretely.
Conclusion
In these first days of Quadragesima, the Church shows us both the pasture and the tribunal. The Shepherd walks among us now in gentleness; the King will come in glory. The one prepares us for the other.
Let us therefore return to Him while He seeks us. Let us serve Him in the least of His brethren. Then, when the Son of Man comes in majesty, we shall hear not the sentence of separation, but the blessed invitation:
“Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
May St. Peter Damian obtain for us the grace of sincere penance, courageous reform of life, and ardent charity — that we may be found among the sheep at the right hand of the eternal