Following the Shepherd
A word on sheep.
Sheep, real ones, are incredibly persistent animals. A male can weigh up to 350 pounds and a female up to 220 pounds. They have a complex digestive system with four chambers in their stomach. Due to their poor eyesight, they are easy prey, and thus travel in a flock to be better protected from predators. They are not the most intelligent and if left unattended by a careless shepherd they will wander into a thicket, or off a cliff. In 2015 in Turkey 1,500 sheep became startled and ran off a cliff as a bunch. The fear of a dog had pulled the wool over their eyes. Sheep need shepherds to lead them or they will wander.
Today, I walked away from Holy Mass today really thankful for Father Mario's words and guidance to stay close to the Eucharist, and also very grateful he is around as a shepherd to his flock. It made me think about the podcast from today with Father Dan, where he speaks about Good Shepherd Sunday, which is in two days. It made me think about what is a Good Shepherd in a priest and how badly we need to be attentive sheep to the voice of that shepherd. I have been thinking about how we listen to the wrong shepherd or "hired hand" that Jesus talks about in His parable on the good shepherd, but also our call to holiness, and priests call to shepherd us.
In John 10 of the Bible Jesus talks about the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd who owns his sheep will be willing to risk his life for his flock. Why would someone risk loosing their life for a bunch of sheep? Well, because in that situation, the flock would feed hundreds of people who would otherwise go hungry, cold and starve without the provisions from the sheep. The shepherds own family would likely starve. Jesus talks about how the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd and answer to only his call. He contrasted this with the hired hand, who has nothing to loose, and at the first sight of trouble runs away. that made me think about what voice of which shepherd we have given priority to. There are a few "hired hands" or false shepherds I thought of:
The false-shepherd of the news. No anchor will lay down his life for viewers.
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| Doom. |
The false shepherd of fear. The opposite of courage, will bind you.
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The false shepherd of putting Covid as our god, and God behind or annulling Him completely in our lives. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." includes Covid.
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| Brazen covid-god dragging our minds and choices around. (Sorry, Reagan) |
The false shepherd of anxiety.
The false shepherd of trusting ourselves to figure it all out more than trusting in God.
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| We got this! No need to mention God! |
You see, there are some things that are just not of God. And there is no time like now to call them out for what they are. The following are not from Him: fear, anxiety, sadness, discouragement, the spirit of rushing into things, or confusion. Those are not from God! Have you felt fear, anxiety, sadness, discouragement, pressure to rush, or confusion this last year? I know I have. Yep, all bundled into the year of confusion. However, we need to know that when we feel these things or find ourselves seeped in them, they are not from God. You might be following the wrong shepherd's voice in that moment because fear is driving you to look for stability. Search no more.
God is with you and there is nothing to fear, neither death itself. The Gospel of Matthew said, "Don't be afraid of the one who can kill the body. Fear the one who can kill the body and soul in hell." In other words, fear only your sin. With that thought in mind, a little flock of nuns descend on Mexico's most dangerous slums and take into the alleys in pairs of two-by-two into the state of Jalisco in Mexico to recruit children for World Villages. This city seeped in Covid, narcotics and murder. Garbage bags in Jalisco are often remains of murdered people. Nevertheless, the smiling nuns go into the depths without a thought to their well being and come out armed with children to take home to the boarding schools where they will feed, clothe, teach and most importantly introduce these children to God.
Why do these nuns do it? Do they have nothing better to do? Is it a massive paycheck or a cult that keeps them tied? No. They don't fear death because they know their life doesn't stop here. Life on earth is just the beginning of eternal life. Death is a door like crossing the street, there is something on the other side, there is God and eternity on the other side.
Living with God is something He wants to do with us, but won't force us. He gives us priests, however to shepherd us. A year after the pandemic has shut down so much, I can say that I have met many a good shepherd in priests. Priests who knelt outside for hours in the freezing cold to pray.
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| It was below freezing. He knelt for hours. |
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| He was sick. He still heard confessions outdoors in terrible weather. He died to himself for his flock. |
Priests who held mass outdoors. Why did they do this? They knew that the sheep need nourishment from Christ and were willing to die to themselves to bring Christ to anyone who was willing to receive Him.
Have you been willing to receive Him? Why or why not?
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| We're not meant to stay spiritually stunted. We need to grow in our faith and be consistent just like we are with meals. |
Let's be honest, Jesus in the Eucharist is Christ: healed people, walked on water, rose from the dead. He cannot infect you with the virus. Jesus in confession redeems you body and spirit. How many people have been healed from cancer while in confession? How many people have been healed from emotional wounds while receiving the Eucharist? Too many to count. Jesus, the Healer, is there to encounter you. He wants to be with you! Don't hold yourself back from the sacraments. They are not "religious" thoughts that are just poetic and good for grandma. They matter in each minutia of your life from your fights at home with your spouse and kids to the deafening silence of loneliness. Go back to Mass and confession with confidence and courage. Jesus is waiting for you with open arms.
And lastly, a word on a good shepherd. A good priest isn't just a good guy. He isn't a politician. And he isn't an infectious disease expert. He is called to be more, he is called to be heroic and lay down his life, literally die, for his sheep. That means die little deaths for love of you. Is your priest willing to die to himself for your soul or the soul of your husband or child? I don't know if mine is. But I know of one who did, and that was Christ. My prior priest, Father Dan, died a million little deaths for his sheep because he didn't want one of them going to hell on his watch. Father Dan didn't sleep to be in the hospital with someone dying alone, Father Dan wouldn't eat to give his dinner to a crying pregnant abandoned woman, he walked 54 miles in rain to pray for us and busted his shoes till his feet burst with sores and then he didn't have enough so took a plane to become the shepherd of 20,000 unwanted abandoned kids that he saw hope in. And guess what? He still cares about us in Maryland because he is posting these podcasts! Your soul matters to Father Dan. He has a mile-long list of categories of people to pray for and I can guarantee you fit into one of those categories. Your soul should matter to your priest, that is what he took vows for. He didn't take vows to relax on the evenings, to clock out at 5 or to hide when an emergency email unnerved him too much to respond. If your priest hasn't brought Christ to you, and died a little to himself to make you aware of your call to holiness, he isn't fulfilling his call.
Have courage to your call to holiness. Pray and ask God to guide you as the good shepherd.
Enjoy the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tqysawcQPM
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