The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to live as the lamb and the shepherd as we are transformed by the Good Shepherd.
In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter testifies before the Sanhedrin.
* [4:11] Early Christianity applied this citation from Ps 118:22 to Jesus; cf. Mk 12:10; 1 Pt 2:7.
* [4:12] In the Roman world of Luke’s day, salvation was often attributed to the emperor who was hailed as “savior” and “god.” Luke, in the words of Peter, denies that deliverance comes through anyone other than Jesus. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 118 is a Song of Victory.
* [Psalm 118] A thanksgiving liturgy accompanying a procession of the king and the people into the Temple precincts. After an invocation in the form of a litany (Ps 118:1–4), the psalmist (very likely speaking in the name of the community) describes how the people confidently implored God’s help (Ps 118:5–9) when hostile peoples threatened its life (Ps 118:10–14); vividly God’s rescue is recounted (Ps 118:15–18). Then follows a possible dialogue at the Temple gates between the priests and the psalmist as the latter enters to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice (Ps 118:19–25). Finally, the priests impart their blessing (Ps 118:26–27), and the psalmist sings in gratitude (Ps 118:28–29).
* [118:22] The stone the builders rejected: a proverb: what is insignificant to human beings has become great through divine election. The “stone” may originally have meant the foundation stone or capstone of the Temple. The New Testament interpreted the verse as referring to the death and resurrection of Christ (Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11; cf. Is 28:16 and Rom 9:33; 1 Pt 2:7). (Psalms, PSALM 118 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the reading from the First Letter of John, we are proclaimed as Children of God.
* [3:1–3] The greatest sign of God’s love is the gift of his Son (Jn 3:16) that has made Christians true children of God. This relationship is a present reality and also part of the life to come; true knowledge of God will ultimately be gained, and Christians prepare themselves now by virtuous lives in imitation of the Son.
* [3:2] When it is revealed: or “when he is revealed” (the subject of the verb could be Christ). (1 John, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus declares that He is the Good Shepherd.
* [10:16] Other sheep: the Gentiles, possibly a reference to “God’s dispersed children” of Jn 11:52 destined to be gathered into one, or “apostolic Christians” at odds with the community of the beloved disciple.
* [10:18] Power to take it up again: contrast the role of the Father as the efficient cause of the resurrection in Acts 2:24; 4:10; etc.; Rom 1:4; 4:24. Yet even here is added: This command I have received from my Father. (John, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)
Sara Schulte-Bukowinski comments that in the gospel of John is the imagery of Jesus as the lamb. In the synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke) the last supper is a Passover meal, but in John’s version Jesus is crucified at the same time the lambs are being slaughtered for the Passover. Jesus is the paschal lamb.
So when I feel worn down, or when I feel that the world and my efforts in it are a mess, when I am tempted to despair, I can trust that the good shepherd has been there, and can abide with me. When I look at the sorrows in the world that are beyond my own experience, I trust that the good shepherd abides there too, with all who suffer, all who fear, all who feel weak and helpless. He is the shepherd who knows the life of the lamb. He will not run. He stays with me in my vulnerability, and helps us know our place staying with one another. (Schulte-Bukowinski, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Green pastures and still waters,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"The pastures that this good shepherd has prepared for you, in which he has settled you for you to take your fill, are not various kinds of grasses and green things, among which some are sweet to the taste, some extremely bitter, which as the seasons succeed one another are sometimes there and sometimes not. Your pastures are the words of God and his commandments, and they have all been sown as sweet grasses. These pastures had been tasted by that man who said to God, 'How sweet are your words to my palate, more so than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth!'" (excerpt from Sermon 366,3,1) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 10:11-18 comments that Jesus is a shepherd unlike the “shepherds” of Israel. In the previous chapter of John’s Gospel, the Jewish leaders responded to Jesus’ miraculous healing by casting out the formerly blind man from the synagogue (9:34). Jesus offered healing and revelation to God’s people, yet these shepherds both rejected him themselves and prevented their “sheep” from receiving the abundant life that Jesus came to give them (10:10). In contrast, Jesus sought out the healed man, comforted him, and led him to faith (9:35-38). This is what a good shepherd does.
Today, rejoice that your good shepherd is guarding and protecting you. He is leading you securely along the perilous paths of life. He is defending you against the wolves and thieves that seek to “steal and slaughter and destroy” you (John 10:10). He is giving you new life that he won by laying down his life and taking it up again in his resurrection (10:18). He will never forsake you.
“Thank you, Jesus, for being my strong good shepherd!” (Meditation on John 10:11-18, n.d.)
Thomas Shufflebotham SJ, who directs the Spiritual Exercises at St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre in North Wales, guides us in a prayerful reflection on just three of the innumerable qualities of Jesus that any good Christian leader should seek to emulate.
The demands of Christian leadership are high, but we will come closer to meeting them if we are people preoccupied with the compassion of Christ, speaking with the honesty of Christ, in a spirit of faith enlivened by our contemplation of Christ steadfastly walking towards Jerusalem, the city from which later he would send his disciples out on mission in the service of all nations. However, any Christian leader will do well to remember one thing more: in the scriptures the Kingdom of God is not built up by human beings. It grows from the soil below, watered by the Spirit, and it is given from above: de arriba – ‘all is grace’. (Shufflebotham, 2012)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on Peter defending himself in front of the elders in the synagogue declaring that the “stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone”. The proclamation that we are “children of God” in 1 John recognizes both realized and future eschatology. Friar Jude notes that Jesus cites Ezekiel as proclaims His mission to unite His flock in one mission.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, locates his deep respect for the natural world in his Franciscan tradition.
So-called “nature mysticism” was in fact a worthy first path for Francis, and also for Bonaventure, the scholar who brought the vision of Francis and Clare to the level of theology, philosophy, and worldview. Bonaventure saw all things as likenesses of God (vestigia Dei), fingerprints and footprints that reveal the divine DNA underlying all the links in the Great Chain of Being. Both Francis and Bonaventure laid the foundation for what John Duns Scotus would later identify as the univocity (one voice) of all being, and what Dawn Nothwehr, a Franciscan sister, calls “cosmic mutuality.” [4]
Creation itself—not ritual or spaces constructed by human hands—was Francis’ primary cathedral. His love for creation drove him back into the needs of the city, a pattern very similar to Jesus’ own movement between desert solitude (contemplation) and small-town healing ministry (action). The gospel transforms us by putting us in touch with that which is much more constant and satisfying, literally the “ground of our being,” which has much more “reality” to it, rather than theological concepts or ritualization of reality. Daily cosmic events in the sky and on the earth are the Reality above our heads and beneath our feet every minute of our lives: a continuous sacrament, signs of God’s universal presence in all things. [5] (Rohr, n.d.)
We seek the guidance of the Spirit to walk with the Good Shepherd on our journey to reflect the fullness of life to the people we encounter in our environment.
References
Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/4?8
John, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/10?11
Meditation on John 10:11-18. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/04/21/940160/
1 John, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/3?1
Psalms, PSALM 118 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/118?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). An Ongoing Conversation. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/an-ongoing-conversation/
Schulte-Bukowinski, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Daily ReflectCreighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/042124.html
Schwager, D. (n.d.). I Am the Good Shepherd. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=apr21
Shufflebotham, T. (2012, July 4). A Reflection on Jesus's Leadership. Thinking Faith. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20120704_1.htm
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