Lamentations 4:6-18. This is a continuation of the same passage I had a few weeks ago. The same lessons apply here - Zion has been punished in a long, slow, starvation and death. Her once ruddy, healthy princes are now skin and bones; compassionate women boil their children for food. "Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger." The Lord has "poured out his hot anger" on them, even though no one believed any foe or enemy could enter Jerusalem due to his protection of his people.

This passage blames the the priests and prophets for the destruction of Zion. "This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous." The priests were sinful - they sinned in the sight of the people and led them astray. The starvation described here can be seen as a starving for the Word - the suffering we feel when we do not have God.  When we turn, or are led, away from him and his Word, we starve. Our suffering in such a state is much worse than those who died by the sword, whether a martyr's death, secure in the Word, or the death of someone who never knew the Word. In either case, their suffering was over quickly. But those who knew God and turned away in this life are doomed to this slow, painful deprivation. They have sinned against the Spirit - they have been given the gift and spurned it.

Because it is the calling of priests and prophets to lead us on the right paths, to teach and guide us, when they go bad, we all suffer. Priests and prophets who lead people astray by their words and actions (I can think of several we have right now) are even more culpable. They have been given a greater commission to protect God's people, and so when they sin in the sight of the righteous, they not only set a bad example, but they cause the people to turn away from God. The suffering is then terrible indeed.

We must pray for our priests, our Pope, and our Church. The Church is Jesus' bride. He will protect and guide her, just as God did the chosen people in the Old Testament, but she (and we) will be subject to much strife due to the fallen nature of this world. We need good shepherds to get us through.