The Lord is My Shepherd; I Shall Not Want

Today, the feast of the Good Shepherd, we pray "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall no want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. He guides me in right paths, for his name's sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil, for you are at my side with  your rod and your staff that give me courage."

What more do I want or need?  Nothing!  My shepherd is the Lord. Like any good shepherd, the Lord is always on the watch to be sure that I am safe from evil, from enemies, from those who seek the ruin of my soul!  I belong to the Good Shepherd and to no other. I know God's voice and God knows mine! Each day, God leads me to bountiful "pastures," and to "life-giving waters" that refresh me, strengthen me, purify me,  make me whole and empower me to bear fruit that will last eternally!

The dark valleys are not dark because God goes before me and is the light that guides me to right paths.  God walks beside me, carries a rod, lest any threatening "animal" approach me, and immediately hears my cry for help when I am in trouble and need His help!

Today, 63 years ago, my mother was approaching death, a time when each of us will need God's help.  At the time of my writing this, my mother had less than 24 hours to live here on earth. As she approached the gate of death, God was with her. For her, and us, He is the gatekeeper of the gate to eternal life, as Jesus tells us in today's Gospel, John 10: 1-10:  "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.....Whoever enters through me will be saved..."  Sixty-three years ago on this day, the gates to heaven were opened by Jesus, who called by mother by name as she approached those gates.  "The gatekeeper open[ed the gate for my mother, she heard] his voice,...and [was led into heaven]...."     It was her time to enter eternal life and live with God forever in a place free of sin, a place of infinite love and incredible beauty and undeniable justice and everlasting peace.

My faith tells me that my mother was given a glorified body when she entered heaven.  And just as Jesus, given a resurrected body was able to bi-locate and enter any room, even if the doors were locked, so, too, I believe, my mother can be with me and with all of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren whenever she so chooses. All of those living on the other side of the grave and part of the Church Triumphant, I believe, are with us, to help us in this valley of tears, this valley of darkness. Though we do not see them with our physical eyes, they are still with us, helping us as we encounter difficulties here on earth!  They tell us what Peter tells us in the second reading of today's liturgy (1 Peter 2: 20b-25):  "If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps...."

May I, and you, follow Jesus in this way and know that our loved ones who have gone before us are with us to help us in any way that we need help to live by faith!

Doing Much with Little!

In today's Gospel, John 6: 1-15, a large crowd, about 5000 men, not counting women and children,  is approaching Jesus and Jesus asked Philip: "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"  John tells us that Jesus asked Philip that question to test him, as he knew what he would do! Philip says to Jesus: "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to  have a little."  Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter points out to Jesus that there is a boy there with five loaves of bread and two fish, "but what good are these for so many?"  We know the rest of the story. Jesus asked that the people recline on the grass there. He then takes the bread and the fish and feeds the crowd with twelve wicker baskets of food left over!

Just as Jesus involved his apostles and the boy in the miracle, so, too, does he involve us when, without us, he easily could do whatever he intends to do all along.  God wants us, including children, to be his partners! And furthermore, the little we have is no deterrent to responding to need, no matter how great that need or how large the crowd is.

Who am I in this Scripture passage? Jesus who sees the crowd approaching and seeks ways to meet their need for "food"?  A member of the crowd who needs to rely upon others to get what one's needs met? Philip who is being tested by Jesus and challenged to find a solution? Andrew who notices the boy who has some food--am I that attentive? The boy with the food and who gives the little he has to Jesus, not really knowing what Jesus will do with it? A member of the crowd whose hunger is met by Jesus? Am I, the "bread" and "fish"being broken and shared with others? Or am I all of the above at different times of my life and, even, at different times of one day?

Notice that Jesus is key to this story. Is Jesus key to your life/to mine?  Also notice that the apostles and the boy are also key to this story!  Do I, do you, realize that we cannot make a difference on our own, that is, that we need each other! Notice, as well, that the little you or I have can make a huge difference.  We have seen this during the crisis we are facing with the coronavirus. Someone decides to find a way to get food that farmers are forced to let rot in their fields and, before long, several semi-trucks are involved in getting the food to persons facing a shortage and not able to put food on their table for their hungry children!

Lord, may our trust in you, in others and in ourselves increase.  May we have the courage to share the little we have, to do whatever we can, and not let doubt in ourselves or others or You stop us from recognizing a need and responding to it in some way, no matter how little we have to share!

Hearing the Cries of the Oppressed

Today's Gospel, Luke 18: 1-8, tells the story of a judge who care about no one, not God nor any human being. A woman persistently approaches him for a just decision and he delivers it to her, saying: "'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'"  His response to her is to avoid negative consequences to himself if he continue to ignore her. He wants her off his back--he is, basically, thinking only about himself and does not really care about the woman.

Our God is not like that judge.  St. Luke says to us in this passage: "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.  Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

God sees our affliction. God hears our cries for help. God knows what we are going through. God cares and comes to help  us, as He did for the Israelites when He appeared to Moses in the burning  bush. God cared that the Israelites had become slaves of the Egyptians. It took time to free them but He held nothing back to bring them out of slavery into a land of freedom. Jesus, the Son of God, held nothing back either in securing our freedom from slavery to anything to which we have become slaves: hatred, bigotry, misogyny, prejudice, revengeful feelings and thoughts, promiscuity, jealousy, envy, selfishness, deceitfulness, corruption and any other evil trap into which were may have fallen. God is on our side in the darkest of moments and will not abandon us when the going gets rough and we know not how we will survive or get back on the right track! God knows when we need help--do we know that we need help? Are we calling for God's help. He is right there beside us waiting for us to turn to Him. He also sends people to help us just as He sent Moses to help his fellow Israelites!  Many times, we may be the one God is asking to help a neighbor in distress.  Are we listening?