Feast of the Martyrs of Chalcedon (24 Sept 2009)

In the gospel, Our Divine Lord tells us that He is the Good Shepherd and we are his sheep. And like every good shepherd, he is concerned about the well-being of his sheep. He guides them, leads them to pasture and to water, protects them from predators.

Back in those days, every shepherd was good at using the slingshot, by means of which he could hurl a rock with terrific force at an animal threatening one of his sheep—a bear, a mountain lion, a wolf. And the young shepherd David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, achieved national prominence by using his skill with the slingshot against Goliath, the giant Philistine enemy, whom he killed with one stone no bigger than an egg.

In the Liturgy of the Hours for today, Saint Augustine comments upon the concept of the Good Shepherd which is found in the book of the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel says, “In good pastures and on the high mountains of Israel, I shall feed them and their grazing ground shall be there.” Saint Augustine goes on: “That is, the place where they will rest, where they will say, ‘I am happy’ where they will say, It is true; it is clear, we are not deceived.”

We are the sheep of Jesus, our Good Shepherd. He is concerned about us; he leads us by means of his Church, his Sacraments, his moral guidance, the grace by which he moves us to pray, to obey his commandments, to love God and neighbor. We can and should say, when contemplating our relationship with Christ, “I am happy.” And we can rejoice that about the truth of the gospel we can further say, “It is true; it is clear; we are not deceived.” Thank you for seeking God’s truth. God bless you. Father Victor Brown, O.P.