At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.
The first part of this verse appears at the top of the lenten message from Benedict XVI. In his message, the Pope says that this Gospel text is his theme for the season of lent.
This verse appears in Matthew after Jesus has performed a series of Miracles and Jesus is going around preaching in the synagogues. The crowd at which he shows pity are those who are coming to hear Jesus speak. These souls are troubled and have either been abandoned by the pharisees and priests, or they themselves had abandoned their religion becase their faith was waning. These people were streaming in to hear Jesus so that he might be able to give them some hope and maybe re-kindle their beliefs. They needed someone to follow as a guide like a shepherd prods his sheep in the right direction. Christ seeing their desire for faith had pity on them included them among the "ripe for harvesting." In today's world, Jesus still has pity on the people longing for faith that come to him no matter how troubled we are. Sheep constantly are straying away from the shepherd looking for food, but that search can always be dangerous when you get away from the flock. But, the shepherd always searches to bring the lost sheep back to the flock and on the right path. We too will continue to stray away from Christ, but Christ always has pity on us so that He goes looking for us to bring us back to the crowd.
Paix du Christ!
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