Trust the Shepherd

 By Father Scott Hurd, Archdiocese of Washington, DC

One evening some years ago, Stephanie my wife prayed for guidance as to whether or not she should return to work part time. The very next morning, an absolutely perfect job practically fell into her lap. To us, this was an obvious sign from God. Yet that night, as we adjusted our family budget to reflect Stephanie’s new income, what did we start to do? We started to worry about money. God had just answered our prayer and shown us how much he cares for us. But still we didn’t “get it.” Finally, we looked at each other and said with exasperation, “What are we doing?” What we weren’t doing is trusting in Jesus, which is what he constantly invites us to do. That’s why he calls himself the good shepherd.

The image of Jesus as the “good shepherd” tells us quite a bit about what he wants our relationship with him to be like. I was once reminded of this very early in my ministry, while I served a small Texas church, smack in the middle of cattle country. There were real cowboys in my parish, and one day one of them said to me, “You know, Father there’s a reason Jesus never said: ‘I am the good cowboy.’” Cows, he explained, are very obstinate creatures.

To get them going in the right direction, they need to be pushed and poked from behind- sometimes with an electric prodder! Sheep, however, are very different from cows. When they hear their shepherd’s call, they happily follow his lead. Just like Jesus said in today’s gospel: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” In other words, Jesus doesn’t want to have to push us like cows. Instead, he wants us to follow him like sheep.

The beautiful 23rd Psalm, which we just prayed together, speaks to us of how Jesus our shepherd cares for us when we trust and follow him. In an often reprinted Reader’s Digest article from over fifty years ago, one old shepherd explained that the psalm’s author obviously knew sheep and shepherds of the Holy Land very well.

Good shepherds, he said, lead their flocks to green pastures where the grazing is best, and where the sheep find contentment. They root out and destroy poisonous plants so their sheep may safely graze. They guide them to still waters, as they know that sheep refuse to drink from noisy, babbling brooks. With their shepherd’s staff they protect them from predators, pull them out of pits should they fall in, and lead them safely through difficult terrain. With oil they anoint and heal the wounds inflicted by thorns and briers, and with jugs of water they cleanse eyes weeping from dust or fever. “Sheep do not worry,” this shepherd concludes, “(Their shepherd’s) guidance has been good in the past, and they have faith in the future because they know he has their well-being in view.”

This psalm refers to God’s care for his chosen people, the Israelites, as he liberated them from slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. It may very well have been written during the Babylonian exile, that difficult period some six centuries before Christ, after the Jews had been violently evicted from their homeland and forced to resettle in what is now Iraq. Far from their homeland and stripped of their freedoms, the exiled Jews wondered if God still cared for them. God inspired this psalm to be written to assure his people that he did. His message to them was: “I’m in charge, so there’s no need to worry.”

God still uses this psalm today to touch people’s hearts. It beautiful and powerful words continue to fill us with confidence and hope when facing change, difficulties, painful circumstances, or our fear of the unknown. It’s a psalm that calls us to place our trust in God- a call we need to hear time and time and time again.

A member of my parish, Peggy Rooney, has a wonderful story of how she learned to trust in God. In her book Uncommon Conversations with God, Peggy confesses that for years she was apprehensive about life. Peggy dreaded making decisions, was apprehensive of not living up to expectations on the job, and harbored what she describes as unreasonable fears about her children’s safety. She prayed and prayed about her these things, but seemingly to no avail. But then God brought a woman named Irene into her life.

Irene was partially blind and had lost both legs as a result of her diabetes. She had the use of only one hand, because an accident years earlier had left the other one crippled. Nevertheless, instead of being bitter and resentful, Irene was a cheerful, compassionate, genuinely loving, and courageous individual. Irene taught Peggy to let go of hear fears by trusting in God. Irene explained that letting go simply

means letting God take control of one’s life. At first, Peggy was hesitant. She wondered who would protect her if she “let go.” Irene’s life, however, provided the answer. She had no choice about being absolutely dependent on others. But she did have a choice about how she related to those she depended upon. She trusted them, and she trusted God- absolutely.

One night Peggy asked Irene how she could be so brave in spite of her dependency. The answer changed Peggy’s life. Irene said, “I figure the worst thing that can happen to me is that I might die and get the chance to actually meet the One who’s been taking care of me for all these years.”

This is the kind of trust we all are called to. Jesus asks us not to worry, not to be filled with fears, and not to place our hopes on ourselves, on others, or on the things of this world. He invites us today to place our trust in him, and in him alone. Because when we trust the Lord who is our shepherd, surely we shall not want.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/nab/051511.shtml

Father Hurd is a married, formerly Anglican priest.

A reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday

Adapted from Rev. Robert M. Bowman

"I am the Good Shepherd; I know mine, and mine know me."

Yes, this is Good Shepherd Sunday. You’re all familiar with the image: a smiling Jesus sitting under a tree, with a cute little lamb on his lap. Or maybe the one with Jesus standing, staff in hand, with the lamb across his shoulders. It’s a beautiful image. It’s a safe image. And it’s a true image; but it’s a very incomplete image. To understand what Jesus was getting at, you have to know the context. To whom was Jesus speaking when he called himself the Good Shepherd? And what did it mean to them?

First, Jesus was not talking to his followers. He was addressing the Pharisees. They were accusing him of being from the devil because he healed a blind man on the Sabbath. His response was that he was the Good Shepherd, not like the hired hands who collected their pay for watching the sheep, but abandoned them in their time of need, because they didn’t really care for the sheep.

Now for thousands of years, the Jewish people had used the Good Shepherd image for God. It goes all the way back to Genesis 49:24, which says that Joseph was saved "By the power of the mighty one of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, the God of your father ..." Such imagery was used by Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Amos, Zeccariah, and of course by David in his Psalms. Psalm 80 begins "Shepherd of Israel, listen, guide of the flock of Joseph, from your throne upon the cherubim, reveal yourself ..." And who can forget Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

So the Pharisees knew exactly what Jesus meant — he was claiming to be God. They also knew he was contrasting himself to them — the hired hands entrusted to care for God’s people, but caring only for themselves. The Pharisees came in for a lot of abuse at the lips of Jesus. It wasn’t that they were particularly bad people. By most standards they were very good people. But they had gotten legalistic, and had lost sight of the spirit of Judaism. I’ve been told that can even happen to Christian churches.

In this context of a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees, the Gospel fits right in with the other two readings. In Acts, Peter and the other apostles were called on the carpet for healing a cripple. (They got in trouble the same way Jesus did, by doing good. Maybe more of us should get ourselves in trouble like that.) Peter answers his accusers by chastising them. "Leaders of the people, elders! We heal in the name of Jesus, whom you crucified ... the stone rejected by you the builders which has become the cornerstone." And in John’s letter, he points out that the world does not recognize them becuase it never recognized Jesus.

Because of the common theme running through these readings ( the gross failure of the religious leaders of the day), I like to call this "anti-establishment Sunday" ... or maybe "blind fools Sunday," because that’s what Jesus called the Pharisees. He warned the people not to follow the example of the Pharisees. Instead, he offered them someone else to follow — the Good Shepherd.

The shepherd image comes up again after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus and his apostles had just finished a breakfast of fish and bread on the shore of Lake Tiberius, when Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?" Peter answered, "Yes, Lord. You know I love you." Then Jesus said, "Herd my lambs." ... What? Did I say something wrong? Jesus didn’t say, "Herd my lambs."? Well, what did he say? "Feed my lambs!" Yes, there is a difference, isn’t there?

A second time, Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?" And a second time Peter answered, "Yes, Lord. You knoooooows that I love you!" And Jesus said, "Drive my sheep." ... What? He didn’t say that either? Oh, right. He said, "Look after my sheep. Tend my sheep."

Then yet a third time, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. By this time, Peter was getting really miffed. Let’s face it, he was hurt that Jesus asked him the same question three times. One might almost expect Peter, like some harrassed husband, to say, "I told you I love you. Whadda you want, flowers?" But the gospels report he merely said, "Lord, you know everything. You know I love you." Then Jesus said, "Keep my sheep in line, and for goodness sake, make sure none of them have any fun!" ... Why are you smiling? Are you telling me he didn’t say that either? Alright, what did he say? "Feed my sheep." ... That’s it? "Feed my sheep"? You’re sure there’s nothing in there about keeping them in line? Well, what have all us successors of Peter been doing all these years? You mean my job is not to keep you on the straight and narrow? Boy, is this going to come as a shock to some of the pastors I know!

"Feed my sheep." That sounds like the job of a ... of a ... of a servant! Is that what I’m supposed to be — your servant? ... You bet! That’s exactly what I’m supposed to be. That’s why Jesus washed the feet of his apostles — to set an example of ministry for the shepherds that would come after him. That's why we wash feet on Holy Thursday. But Jesus wasn’t talking about once-a-year symbolism. He was talking about every-day down-and-dirty ministry

A shepherd in those days didn’t walk behind the flock beating them with a stick to keep them moving. He walked in front of them, seeking out a safe path to food and water and shelter. The sheep followed him, because they recognized his voice, and they trusted him. Jesus tells us that’s the kind of Good Shepherd he is. He leads, and we follow.

Now, I have a whole story on what it means to follow Jesus, but that’s for another day. Today, I just want to emphasize that He is the one we are to follow, nobody else. St. Peter never got up and said, "My name is Peter. I’m you’re new shepherd. You just follow me and do what I say, and you’ll be fine." No! Instead, he said, "That Jesus whom you crucified, He is the one you must follow." If we follow Peter, it is only because he is following Jesus too, and pointing to him, and we happen to be going the same way.

That’s the way it is with us, followers of Jesus, members of his flock. We are all called to have a little shepherd in us. If one of us falls, the rest of us stop and pick him up and put him on our shoulders. If one of us strays, the rest call out and point the way (as best we know it). But we don’t follow each other. Together, we follow Jesus, for there is but one flock, and one Shepherd.

Good Shepherd Sunday: We celebrate vocations this Sunday

This Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, is Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocations Sunday.

We pray that many will hear the call to the priesthood, the call to devote themselves fully to the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, which is the Gospel of Life.

Many young people today are finding their vocation precisely because of the Church’s witness to the sanctity of life amidst the holocaust of abortion. Responding to a vocation requires counter-cultural service, which is precisely the context which the pro-life movement offers.

 Devoting oneself to the defense of life provides a powerful seed-bed for the flowering of priestly vocations, just as a response to a priestly vocation is necessarily a commitment to the defense of life. Let us pray today for many “good shepherds,” and let us encourage those who have already accepted that call.