By Msgr. Joseph Prior • Posted July 19, 2024

One Christmas a young wife and mother named Brenda was facing a lot of challenges. Along with the typical stresses of the season, her husband’s job security was low and they thought they might lose his income. She was getting depressed.

She was also a volunteer teacher at her church’s religious education program. As she pulled out her materials just before Christmas, she saw the lesson was on Jesus as the Good Shepherd. She recalled thinking to herself, “What, the Good Shepherd? Something is wrong here. How does the Good Shepherd relate to the real meaning of Christmas? Besides all this, how are city kids supposed to relate to the Good Shepherd?” She recalled that because she was feeling so low, she could not find anything positive to focus on.

When the time for class came she thought she would just plow through it. When the activity portion came, the very young children were going to make sheep with cotton balls and some construction paper. After this activity she asked the children: “What is a good shepherd?” One little child raised his hand and answered: “He is the one who picks up his sheep when they fall down.” The youngster’s response changed her whole outlook.

The psalm for today’s responsorial is Psalm 23, one of the most beloved passages from Sacred Scripture. “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want….” The psalmist portrays God’s relationship with his people as a shepherd of the flock. The words speak to the heart.

Hundreds of years later when Emmanuel (“God is with us”) arrives in the flesh, he takes that image to himself saying: “I am the Good Shepherd … I know my sheep and they know me … and the Good Shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep.”

The image speaks to the reality of God’s loving care. He provides for his people leading us to “restful waters” and refreshing our souls. He not only relates to us when we “walk through the dark valley,” he leads us through it by our side, with his “rod and staff that give us courage.”

The advent of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, was prepared for by the covenant with Israel. One witness to this preparation was Jeremiah’s prophecy that we hear in today’s first reading. One of the roles of the prophet is to speak for God. He is a messenger. Jeremiah lived and ministered in troubling times. The leadership of Israel was in tatters. Threats abounded. People had turned away from the covenant. Division was in the land. The kings, who were supposed to shepherd the people through their leadership, were failing in their responsibilities.

The Lord speaks through the prophet and promises: “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing…. Behold, the days are coming … when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land.”

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He also prepares certain disciples to be shepherds for his flock. The apostles are the first of these shepherds. Last week we heard of Jesus sending the apostles out on mission. They proclaimed the good news, they called people to repentance, and cared for the sick and cured those plagued by demons.

This week we pick up on the scene with their return. Jesus now invites them to come with him to a “deserted place.” They need to be with him. Their role in mission is to represent him so they need time not just to rejuvenate but to be with him. They depart in a boat. When Jesus sees all the people trying to follow, so much so that they go on foot ahead of Jesus and the apostles, he is moved with compassion for they were like “sheep without a shepherd.” And so the Good Shepherd teaches them.

What a lesson for the apostles. They see his compassion for the flock and his response to their needs. In this interaction Jesus not only is teaching the disciples, he is teaching the apostles how to be good shepherds.

God continues to shepherd his flock. In Jesus, we see the Good Shepherd in the flesh. We see the Shepherd who is willing to lay down his life for the sheep. We see him appoint members of that same flock to follow in his footsteps and to help shepherd the flock. We see the compassion of God for the flock. He recognizes the challenges we face in life. He knows our needs. His heart is moved as we look for guidance and direction, as we look for help. And he responds. He leads.

And so, following him, we can confidently say: “Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.”

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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Penndel, and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.