Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - The Good Shepherd_071821

Deacon Tom Writes,

“The Good Shepherd” 

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

God has a plan for our lives. Like any good plan, it’s designed to work so that anyone who follows it will achieve the desired result. The trouble is that at some point along the way we get tired of following the plan God has laid out for us and we start doing things our way. What happens? We all have our stories, don’t we?

Jeremiah has to contend with some shepherds who have abandoned the plan God designed for them. As shepherds they were not protecting their flock. To the contrary, they were exposing them to the very dangers they should have been protecting them from. God sees this and will not stand for such an outrage. What does God do? He promises to send a real shepherd, to tend and care for his sheep, so that they no longer live in fear or be at risk, and to gather those who have strayed.

We know, of course, that Jesus is the promised Shepherd that Jeremiah foretold. Does Jesus live up to the standards that Jeremiah prophesied about Him? Very much so! Even a cursory reading of the four gospels provides ample evidence that Jesus is the “Good Shepherd”. For so often we read where Jesus teaches His followers not to be afraid acnd that He cares for the people God has entrusted to Him, curing them of their sickness, physical, spiritual, and mental; He feeds them physical and spiritual nourishment; He dispels the darkness by teaching them about the Kingdom of Heaven and about a life of virtue. And when things take a turn for the worse, He even dies for them, even those who did Him wrong! Jesus fulfills Jeremiah’s prophesy beyond imagination!

Is Jesus our “Good Shepherd”? Does He calm our fears? Nourish us? Protect us? Provide for our needs? Did His death save us? Does our relationship with Him change the course or events of our life?

In today’s gospel, the “Good Shepherd” that Jeremiah prophesied would one day appear, calls His followers “to come away by themselves to a deserted place for a while”. There, within our deepest being, we can encounter the “Good Shepherd” and perhaps get to know Him better and thank Him for His guidance, protection and care.

Enjoy the Day!
Deacon Tom

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time_A - Good Ground For Hope_071920

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Good Ground For Hope”

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

In today’s First Reading the author of the Book of Wisdom in speaking of God says, “You gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins”. Suppose you were asked to make a list of those things in your life that make you hopeful, what would you write down? You may have a litany of things that give you hope. You may answer that a loving and understanding family is the cause for your hope. You may say the bright promise that the future holds in store for you and those you love fuels your hopeful attitude. Or, you may draw your hope from seeing the bright optimism on the faces of the young people in your life. There are many sources of hope in our lives but unfortunately, we don’t often think about them. I wonder if we did take the time to list them, would any of us have the least inkling that being reconciled to God is the source of our hopefulness or that our hope lies in God’s willingness to forgive (and forget!!!) our sins?

Reflecting on this thought, we are able to see that there are two amazing powerful spiritual dynamics at work here. Not only does God in his goodness give us the grace to allow us to seek his forgiveness, but he is also eager to grant us forgiveness. Our Lord is indeed “…good and forgiving”.

Our sinfulness stunts our growth, just as the weeds take away from the wheat growing in the field and reduces the bounty of the harvest. God does not want our lives to be diminished by sin. He does not want us to be stifled or overcome by our sinfulness. He has called us to an “abundant life,” and he wants us to “live life to the fullest”. And, he has given us a way to do this.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the good ground for our hope. It is for our own good, our mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Reconciliation is the way we respond to God’s good graces that sustain and nourish us on our earthly journey and which leads us to the source of all of our hope, God himself. Let us spend some time this week taking an inventory of ways we need to be reconciled to God and perhaps each other and then seek the grace of the Sacrament itself. With our hope revitalized in this Sacrament of Reconciliation we will be better able to share that hope with everyone around us.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom