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| Dr. He Qi |
Being
shepherds to our Cotswold sheep, this Sunday is a favorite one. We did not
breed our sheep this past year- for the first time in almost 40 years, but were
given 3 lambs in Holy Week to raise up for meat. All of our sheep are young, and we hope this
year to breed some of the ewes.
We are more
fortunate than the other islands that surround us, as we have no predators or
dogs that roam, killing and maiming the flocks.
Our sheep, as all our animals, are free to roam our many acres, freeing
us from keeping a vigilant eye on them. We depend on the Good Shepherd Himself
to keep a watch over us and all we hold dear.
Everyone who is entrusted with the care of others is a
shepherd. We are good shepherds when we love those entrusted to us, praying
for them, spending our time and talents for their welfare, and guarding them
from physical and spiritual dangers.
Today we also celebrate Vocations Sunday, a day of
remembrance and prayer for all those who have received God’s call in life and
chose to follow Him and dedicate themselves completely to Him. It is the duty
of all Catholics to pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and
religious life.
For young people, that
they may know the personal love of the Lord for them, and respond with open and
generous hearts. We pray to the Lord. . .
BEAUTIFUL SHEPHERD
To
become a good shepherd is to come out of the shell of selfishness
in order to be attentive to those for whom we are responsible
so as to reveal to them their fundamental beauty and value
and help them to grow and become fully alive.
in order to be attentive to those for whom we are responsible
so as to reveal to them their fundamental beauty and value
and help them to grow and become fully alive.
Here we touch the fundamental
difference
between productivity and fecundity,
between making an inanimate object, such as a car or a piece of furniture,
and transmitting life.
We can discard it or do with it what we like.
This is not so with people;
if we are bonded to a weak person
or to someone whom God has given to us in friendship,
in responsibility;
in accompaniment or in community;
we cannot discard them or do what we like with them.
and we carry some responsibility for them.
between productivity and fecundity,
between making an inanimate object, such as a car or a piece of furniture,
and transmitting life.
We can discard it or do with it what we like.
This is not so with people;
if we are bonded to a weak person
or to someone whom God has given to us in friendship,
in responsibility;
in accompaniment or in community;
we cannot discard them or do what we like with them.
and we carry some responsibility for them.
It is not easy to be a good
shepherd, to really listen,
to accept another’s reality and conflicts.
It is not easy to touch our own fears and blocks in relation to people,
or to love people to life,
It is a challenge to help another
gradually to accept responsibility for their own life,
to trust themselves, to become less and less dependent on us
and more dependent on Jesus, the Good or the Wonderful Shepherd.
to accept another’s reality and conflicts.
It is not easy to touch our own fears and blocks in relation to people,
or to love people to life,
It is a challenge to help another
gradually to accept responsibility for their own life,
to trust themselves, to become less and less dependent on us
and more dependent on Jesus, the Good or the Wonderful Shepherd.
Jean Vanier on the Good Shepherd,
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