"I am the Good Shepherd. I know mine and mine know me".

In today's Gospel Jesus continues to tell us that he is the Shepherd of the sheep.
The sheep hear his voice, "as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."

How do I feel when Jesus calls me by name? How do I respond?

Jesus tells us, "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."I feel both gratitude and joy knowing that Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He cares for us, loves us, calls us by name, and leads us so that we may have life and have it abundantly.

Shepherd but also Lamb

The Liturgy for the 4th Sunday of Easter has Jesus as both Lamb and Shepherd.
The 2nd reading is from Revelation and speaks three times of the Lamb:
1- the multitude "stood before the throne and before the Lamb...
2- then one of the elders said, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them in the blood of the Lamb.
3- "For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

So, the Lamb shepherds us and Jesus is both the Paschal Lamb and the Good Shepherd "who laid down his life for his sheep, who died for his flock, he is risen, alleluia!" (Communion antiphon)

One summer after a serious bout of anemia when I had not strength to walk a block, I went into retreat. Those eight days are remembered vividly because I actually felt the presence of the Good Shepherd carrying me in His arms. The image and the feeling of being carried with love is all that I remember from that retreat but it still gives me great consolation. "Shepherd me, O God, from all my wants, from all my fears, from death into life."We are indeed his people, "the sheep of the flock."

Good Shepherd Sunday

The fourth Sunday after Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Psalm 100 reminds us: "We are his people, the sheep of his flock." I love the Gospel of John where Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me."
Years ago, when I lived in Chile, one of our community houses was surrounded by a yard with a flock of sheep who all had biblical names and came when they were called. They are not very bright and almost had to be led to the food put out for them. They did follow when called by name.

I love Psalm 23: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want ..." I read this quote about not fearing: "God, as shepherd, so protects his sheep that they need not fear their enemies (v. 4). He leads them in safety through dangerous situations. Defenseless sheep can, without fear, entrust their shepherd to direct their way, even “through the valley of the shadow of death” (v. 4). There is a ravine south of the Jericho Road that leads from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea that shepherds call the Valley of the Shadow of Death. This narrow defile, four and a half miles long, runs through a mountainous range where overhanging cliffs may be as much as 1500 feet high. There sheep traverse the valley floor which may be very dangerous because it is subject to erosion by cloud bursts. At times there are gullies seven or eight feet deep where wild dogs may lurk to prey on the sheep. The psalmist affirms his faith in God, his shepherd, by promising not to be afraid, even in the most dreadful circumstances likened to that of sheep passing through the Valley of the Shadow of Death." I shall try to find where I am quoting this from and let you know as I think it was a homily. More about the Good Shepherd tomorrow.

Browse the Catholic Bookrack: By Category: Reference Works

Browse the Catholic Bookrack: By Category: Reference Works
Here is a good place to find all the books that Benedict XVI wrote before he was Pope.

God meets me in the pool.

I try to go to water exercise every morning and I feel it is one of the most contemplative things I do. I usually rush into the pool just at 9:00 in the morning and so spend the first minutes greeting the extraordinary women who come so faithfully. In the meantime, we are exercising our arms under the water as we exercise our lips to catch up with each other. One of my favorite friends will soon be 90 and I am planning a party for her; she joined me for Centering Prayer yesterday and then we played Scrabble as she is a great Scrabble player.

All the women in the pool seem to have the wisdom of life experience and the sharing we do is fantastic! Then we get down to serious exercises that require our silent participation and that is when God seems just to be so present in all - the people, (there are some men who come, too), the water, the sun, the whole atmosphere. I am grateful that I can be immersed in God there so easily. At the end of the hour, when my time permits, we walk or skip the length of the pool for another fifteen minutes. This is when being the only nun that goes to water exercise and the only one some have ever met, becomes a great opportunity to share His Love, but mostly I am receiving His love. I know this public pool has become a sacred space for me. His joy is reflected in so many faces full of His goodness.

Easter Joy

Today I was looking at the Easter prefaces for the Liturgy during this joyous season - there are five Prefaces of Easter and each has "We praise you with greater joy than ever in this Easter season, when Christ became our paschal sacrifice."

Then there is something different for each of the five. One of my theology professors once said that "if you want to understand the theology of a feast, go to the Preface."

Easter Preface 1 "He is the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world. By dying he destroyed our death; by rising he restored our life."

Easter Preface 2 "He has made us children of the light, rising to new and everlasting life. He has opened the gates of heaven to receive his faithful people. His death is our ransom from death; his resurrection is our rising to life.

Easter Preface 3 "He is still our priest, our advocate who always pleasds our cause. Christ is the victim who dies no more, the Lamb, once slain, who lives for ever."

Easter Preface 4 "In Him a new age has dawned, the long reign of sin is ended, a broken world has been renewed, and man is once again made whole."

Easter Preface 5 "As he offered his body on the cross, his perfect sacrifice fulfilled all others. As he gave himself into your hands for our salvation, he showed himself to be the priest, the altar, and the lamb of sacrifice."

Easter Prefaces 2-5 end with: "The joy of the resurrection renews the whole world, while the choirs of heaven sing for ever to your glory: Holy, holy...

We indeed have reason to praise You with greater joy, Lord. Help us to live in Your Joy and give it to others today!

The "Good News"

Today is the Feast of St. Mark. In Mark's Gospel, Jesus sends the Eleven saying: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Good News to every creature."(Mk 16:15)

I started reflecting on the "Good News" and how I proclaim it. Luke has the angel tell the shepherds, "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you "good news" of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord."

The "Good News" is the coming of the Lord. God so loves the world that He sent his only Son ...

Mark told us at the beginning of his Gospel: "...Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Good News of God, and saying, "The Kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the "Good News." (Mk 1:14-15)

Jesus reveals God's love for us--the Good News. Later, Mark says after the Ascension of Jesus, "and they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it." (Mk 16:20)

So I am called to go out and proclaim this Good News --God loves us; Jesus is risen! Alleluia!

Good news is not given with a sad face. Jesus said that "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. . .I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete." Let us go forth with joy to proclaim God's love, the Good News, to all the world!

"It is the Lord"

I am still with the Gospel of the Third Sunday of Easter. I think that we often just want to move on before we are finished praying with a passage. Jesus seems to be on the shore and calling to me. I can identify with the apostles who went fishing with Peter. Peter went back to his first call, his ordinary work. He toiled all night and with the dawn found Jesus waiting for him. He was willing to trust the one who called out from the shore, even though he did not yet know that it was Jesus. He obeyed, cast his net as directed, and found that there were now so many fish that they could not pull in the net. Sometimes it is that act of trust that makes all fruitful.

I love Peter jumping into the water to arrive more quickly to be with Jesus. And I never tire of contemplating that scene where Jesus has prepared breakfast for his friends. There is something so tender and human about building a fire to have fish cooked for these hungry men who have toiled all night without any success. Without Jesus, their nets would still be empty. When the disciple whom Jesus loved cried out, "It is the Lord" no one doubted as they immediately remembered the first, unexpected and immense catch when Jesus called them to leave all and follow Him. I think this Gospel reminds me of my first call and then the fact that Jesus is still calling me. He may wait until dawn to appear on the shore, but He is there and all is well. No matter what happens, especially success, I need to remember, "It is the Lord" and He is still calling me.

God, the Center of our Life

Some time ago, a friend sent me a card with this quote from St. Vincent de Paul"

"If God is the center of your life, no words are necessary.

Your mere presence will touch hearts."

I keep this on my prayer shelf as it speaks to me of what is essential-- keep God at the center. This means that I live my life around God, not self! It means that I am not only conscious of His presence in my daily life, moment by moment, but that I have a firm and honest commitment to lead a life that allows God to be at the center. It means living a discerning life to choose always what pleases Him. This is a strong desire and may it become a lived reality.

I was glad to see that we celebrate the feast of St. George today. He was an early martyr who lived in the late 3rd century and is supposed to have killed a dragon. He was made the patron saint of England in 1415. My family had so many males named George that we called them "big" George, "little George", "old George" and "young" George. May all the George's be with us today and give us courage as we celebrate their feasts.

Third Sunday of Easter-Part Two

After they had finished the breakfast prepared and served by Jesus, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
And Peter answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Then Jesus asks him the same question and Peter replies the same, but now Jesus says, "Tend my sheep." And then a third time Jesus asks the same question, "Do you love me?" and Peter is distressed and replies: "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Then Jesus says to him, "Feed my sheep."
Peter had denied Jesus three times. Now Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to affirm three times that he loves him. Peter's answer is one of my favorite lines from the Gospels that I often find myself repeating: "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." I like it better in Spanish and had it written across a blackboard in my office in Chile until the earthquake of 1965 destroyed office, school, and convent. "Senor, tu sabes todo; tu sabes que te quiero." Sorry but this is without the accents.

Jesus also says to Peter, "Amen, amen I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Something for me to reflect on as I grow old.
Then Jesus says: "Follow me."
He continues to call us and asks only that we love him!

Third Sunday of Easter-Part One

Jesus reveals himself again to his disciples. Peter had said that he was going fishing and the six other disciples who were with him said they would go, too. They got into the boat and fished all night but caught nothing. When it was dawn, Jesus comes and calls from the shore: "Children, have you caught anything?" When they respond with an emphatic "no", Jesus tells them to cast the net to the right side of the boat. They do it and cannot pull the net in because of the huge amount of fish. John says to Peter, "It is the Lord" and Peter jumps into the sea to swim ashore to reach Jesus. Jesus has prepared breakfast for them with a fire that has fish on it and bread, but he tells them to bring more fish. Then he says, "Come, have breakfast." And he took bread and gave it to them and then the fish. This was the third time they had seen the risen Jesus.

There is more, but the Liturgy offers the option of stopping here as this scene has so much to think about and it is one of the most intimate scenes of Jesus with his disciples for he not only has prepared breakfast for them but given them another catch of fish after they had toiled all night and caught nothing. He uses some of the fresh fish and serves them himself.

It was Peter who suggested going fishing; as a true leader, he announced that he was going and they followed, but the fish did not bite. When Jesus appears on the shore, they do not recognize him, but as soon as Peter hears that it is the Lord, he jumps into the water to go to Jesus the quickest way. I suspect that when he arrived, he did not really know what to say and maybe that is why they took time to count the fish! The point was that they were with Jesus. In prayer, words are not important. Just be there with Jesus.

Holy Desire

St. Augustine says that "the life of a good Christian consists of nothing else but holy desire."
St. Gregory believes that "holy desires grow by delays."
I feel that the longing for God increases; desire intensifies and does not cease. Desire is eternal. I desire to go beyond all the gifts given to desire only the Giver.

Yesterday the computer was off probably because of an electric power failure we had. I was frustrated but had many other things to do so maybe being away from the computer was a gift.