Good Shepherd Sunday

A brief explanation before today's slice of bread. There was a glitch with bloggerdashboard on Friday, so I was not able to make a contribution that day, and Saturday, I was away at a graduation and had no access to a computer. I see that Thursday's entry was repeated. For a reason, I presume.
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday as well as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, quite a combo and very fitting for our reflections on the Church and the world around us. Most of us have perhaps never met a shepherd, nor even seen a herd of sheep, but Jesus' description of the care given by the shepherd to his sheep still speaks to us: He is the guardian, the trusted one, the one who knows and loves his sheep, the one who came "so that they might have life and have it more abundantly." (Jn 10:10). The image of the Good Shepherd is loved and found around the world in all Christian denomiations for these reasons. We who wander about lost and hungry NEED such a shepherd, to care for us, to keep us from straying. Hence, the shepherd's crook, to pull us out of the brambles of life, or to poke us back into the fold when we stray. We look to our bishops as our leaders, our shepherds...their croziers are really shepherd's crooks...sometimes ornate and gilded, but more recently of simple wood. As teachers, and parents, we too are shepherds, needed more than ever as the secular world steals more and more time and attention from "the things that matter" in our lives and in our children's and students' lives. Sometimes I feel like St. Paul on a continuous missionary journey speaking to students who never heard about the riches and abundant life available to those who believe and live the faith. It's like starting from scratch. I've been speaking in freshmen religion classes, and come out with admiration for the teachers who strive every day to impart some knowledge and love of Jesus and Mary, as well as some basic facts of the faith. I also come out with the conviction that we need to pray for them and all who have the responsibility of passing on the faith. Let us pray too that more good people will hear and follow the call to be shepherds and teachers. Above all, today's focus reminds us that Jesus is still THE GOOD SHEPHERD who loves all his sheep and will not only guard and protect them,but will lead them to abundant life; so our confidence lies in him, not just in ourselves.
Bro. Rene