Welcoming the Holy

Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.

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By: Sister Joan Sobala

“Yes, you are my flock: you are the flock of my pasture.”  Ezekiel 34.31 

Opening Prayer

Ever-present God, we can’t thank You enough for claiming us as Your own. We love You and treasure You. Yet we do not often enough love and treasure one another. On this day when we celebrate Your Son’s faithfulness as our Good Shepherd, give us the desire to stretch ourselves out to others, for we are all His flock. We pray in Your Spirit. Amen.

Reflection

The early Christian community struggled with the question of who belongs to Christ. At first, Peter and the others thought that they were to welcome only Israel to follow Christ. It’s hard to unlearn exclusiveness. But they did come to that profound realization that, as it says in 1 John we are all God’s children. Jesus, in the gospel, puts no qualification on which sheep can be part of His flock. 

We draw unparalleled comfort from the Good Shepherd. Yet we are not alone in the flock. All the others are held tenderly by God as well.  

Beyond our liturgies, as we share moments of joy and sadness, as we expend our talents and energies for others, we are deeply one with all of them. The suffering people in the world’s worst trouble spots belong to the same flock as we do. The incarcerated, the sick, the homeless recognize Christs’ voice, even as we do. 

Today, as we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday, let’s celebrate as well all those with whom we belong. Such belonging calls us to enlarge our embrace. Let’s do so.  

Closing Prayer

Creator God, we fix our eyes on Jesus, our Good Shepherd. Help us to hear His voice  in this moment and be grateful. Even as we move closer to the side of the Good Shepherd, let us move closer to one another. Amen.