Sunday Gospel Reflection, July 19, 2015: I myself will gather my flock...

I myself will gather my flock…

Why do we need a shepherd?

In our reading from Jeremiah this Sunday, the Lord’s message is clear:  the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock will be replaced by a new shepherd, one appointed by God himself, who will reign and govern wisely, doing what is just and right in the land.  This righteous shoot to David who, in Psalm 23, merits our trust because of all the care he shows us throughout our lives, is of course Jesus himself, the shepherd who is at our side, giving us courage and repose, guiding us in right paths.  In the gospel reading, Mark tells us that Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for the crowds who followed him into the desert, for they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.

Why do we need a shepherd?  The image of shepherd is double:  he is both leader and companion.  By putting ourselves into the hands of the shepherd, we know true hesed, the nurturing care of mother love that is covenant love.  But we must first be open to being loved by God; only then can God lift us out of all fear, giving us confidence in his promise to accompany us always.  Our journey in faith is to encounter the perfect love of God over and over, until we can be open to that love, trusting that God will never abandon us.  Jesus came to establish peace, as Paul tells the Ephesians; he is our peace.  In Jesus, all enmity is put to death, so that all might reconcile with God.  Our job is to trust in the Lord of our truth, Jesus, the shepherd who leads us in truth, through death to life, daily.

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 15, 2015: God so loved the world...

God so loved the world...

How do we survive in the tension of love?

Sunday’s reading from the second Book of Chronicles tells  -- in vivid detail -- yet another story of the Jewish people’s infidelity to the covenant with God.  Exile was the result of that infidelity; Psalm 137 gives voice to the people in exile who don’t believe they can worship God in Babylon:  they hang up their harps and sit and weep instead.  But the people found hope at the end of the tunnel, when Cyrus, the King of Persia, sent them back to rebuild… and may their God be with them, Cyrus tells them.

If only this were the end of humankind’s infidelity to the covenant with God… But our lack of faithfulness has continued through the Pharisees of Jesus’s day to our own time.  We know how the story ends, though, because we have a sense of God’s infinite love.  Rich in mercy, Paul reminds the Ephesians, God brought us to life with Christ.  Or, in John’s words, God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.  We will not perish precisely because God’s love is infinite:  Jesus, life itself, came to reveal the truth of that love.  There are no limits on the mercy God is willing to visit upon those who believe.  Each time we participate in Eucharist, we are reaching beyond where we are to where Jesus is, so that we might be reconnected forever to the infinite goodness that is that love.  And, as Paul says, it is by grace that we have been saved through faith:  faith is about how we enter into God’s activity, how we are drawn in by God’s work in us, by God’s mercy, so that we may be conduits of that grace for others.

To survive in the tension of love is to die to what has been, to be open to what is and what might be.  As we approach the end of Lent, may we experience God’s mercy in that tension, drawing others with us into union with Christ, through the grace that is ours and the love we share. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle