The Good Shepherd

By Lisa Greey —

One of my favorite books as a kid was “The Little Lost Lamb.”  Ironically the book was lost, and then the specific edition I loved went out of print.  Luckily, it was eventually reprinted and somewhere in my stuff I have a copy.  This book was the children’s version of the parable of the lost sheep.  While this isn’t the Gospel passage today, the first reading, Psalm and Gospel all talk about being a Shepherd.

The first reading talks about the difference between a bad and good shepherd.  A bad shepherd separates the flock.  He runs away when he sees a wolf.  He does not care for the sheep.  God, the Good Shepherd, gathers his flock together.  What does this teach us?  We are called to be one community of believers.  Yet God also cares for each sheep individually.  He knows us by name.  Though we belong to a community, that does not overshadow who we each are as individual persons.  The Good Shepherd knows this, but bad Shepherd does not.  How often do we think about God in the reverse of the Good Shepherd?  We think: God will make my life miserable; he will not make me happy, I will loose myself if I surrender to him.  In fact, these things will happen under the watch (or lack thereof!) of the Bad Shepherd.

The Gospel proves this point to us.  Jesus is tired.  He and disciples haven’t had time to eat.  They just want to get away and rest for a bit.  But the crowd is persistent, and meets him in the deserted place.  My response to this situation would be – I can’t be bothered with these people right now, would someone please find us a place to eat.  Thank goodness, Jesus has the better response: “His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.”  Because he is moved with pity, rather than satisfying his own needs, Jesus teaches the people.  This is the example of the Good Shepherd.  He puts his own needs second to his flock.  How as Christ been a Shepherd to you?  Think of some of the ways he has cared for you and saved you from harm.  Shoot up some prayers of gratitude for those moments in your life.