Showing posts with label Good Shepherd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Good Shepherd. Show all posts

Saturday, April 29, 2023

The Good Shepherd

 


Christ teaches the people that he is the Good Shepherd. St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, comments:


I am the Good Shepherd. Surely it is fitting that Christ should be a shepherd, for just as a flock is guided and fed by a shepherd so the faithful are fed by Christ with spiritual food and with his own body and blood. The Apostle said: You were once like sheep without a shepherd, but now you have returned to the guardian and ruler of your souls. The prophet has said: As a shepherd he pastures his flock.

Christ said that the shepherd enters through the gate and that he is himself the gate as well as the shepherd. Then it is necessary that he enter through himself. By so doing, he reveals himself, and through himself he knows the Father. But we enter through him because through him we find happiness.

Take heed: no one else is the gate but Christ. Others reflect his light, but no one else is the true light. John the Baptist was not the light, but he bore witness to the light. It is said of Christ, however: He was the true light that enlightens every man. For this reason no one says that he is the gate; this title is Christ’s own.

However, he has made others shepherds and given that office to his members; for Peter was a shepherd, and so were the other apostles and all good bishops after them. Scripture says: I shall give you shepherds according to my own heart. Although the bishops of the Church, who are her sons, are all shepherds, nevertheless Christ refers only to one person in saying: I am the Good Shepherd, because he wants to emphasize the virtue of charity. Thus, no one can be a good shepherd unless he is one with Christ in charity. Through this we become members of the true shepherd.

The duty of a good shepherd is charity; therefore Christ said: The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. Know the difference between a good and a bad shepherd: the good shepherd cares for the welfare of his flock, but the bad shepherd cares only for his own welfare.

The Good Shepherd does not demand that shepherds lay down their lives for a real flock of sheep. But every spiritual shepherd must endure the loss of his bodily life for the salvation of the flock, since the spiritual good of the flock is more important than the bodily life of the shepherd, when danger threatens the salvation of the flock. This is why the Lord says: The good shepherd lays down his life, that is, his physical life, for his sheep; this he does because of his authority and love. Both, in fact, are required: that they should be ruled by him, and that he should love them. The first without the second is not enough.

Christ stands out for us as the example of this teaching: If Christ laid down his life for us, so we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.


Such wisdom, and as we reflect on the image, don't forget that a good shepherd beats off wild beasts, thieves and robbers with their staff.

God bless you all,

LSP 

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Good Shepherd Sunday


It's Good Shepherd Sunday and Bishop Iker came to the Missions to preach, celebrate the Mass and baptize. Unlike many bishops, Jack Iker is a good shepherd, who cares for the flock and protects it against the wolf.

Wolf

Who is the wolf? Satan, of course, along with his allies within and without the church, those who tear, rend and attempt to destroy the Body of Christ. People like:

"heretics, hypocrites and Lollards, who with their wretched doctrine hardly every cease to deceive the meek and the simple in the Church. Against them the faithful shepherd must fight strongly with the keenness of the words of sacred scripture and, given his pastoral staff, with the threat of censure."

Heretic

That was written in the Middle Ages but it's true today. The wretched doctrine of our contemporary heretics is in the ascendant, especially in Western Anglicanism, though no denomination is immune. 

Lesbyterian

Pray for more good shepherds, men like Bishop Iker, who will be faithful to the flock and fight against the enemy.

God bless,

LSP