the great shepherd of the sheep
by the Blood of the eternal covenant,
furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (cf. Joh. 10:11). He is our shepherd and if we follow him there is nothing we shall want. He gives us all that is good so that we can do his will. He is the one "who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (cf. Eph. 1:3).
He and the shepherds he trains live selfless lives for the sake of we who are sheep. People come to them and great numbers so that they often have no opportunity even to eat. We leave them little time to go away to the desert places to have time to themselves. Yet they do not abandon us.
When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
We ought to trust Jesus completely. He puts us even before himself. And his apostles and their successors do the same.
Obey your leaders and defer to them,
for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account,
that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow,
for that would be of no advantage to you.
We need to appreciate our shepherds. We need to appreciate and take advantage of the ways in which they make the chief shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep, present to us. They do not neglect to do good and share what they have with us. God is pleased but we are often indifferent, like they are just more people doing their jobs out in the world.
Yet it is through these shepherds that he carries out in us whatever is pleasing to him. It is through these shepherds that he leads us to the restful waters of baptism and spreads the table of the Eucharist before us. It is through them that he anoints us with oil in Confirmation and the Anointing of the Sick. It is only through them that we are able to dwell and God's house and to experience his goodness and kindness as profoundly as he desires.
They empower us to offer the sacrifice of praise that pleases God. Jesus does not abandon us. He himself is our shepherd. And wherever he can he makes himself present through his apostles and their successors. Look up. Even if we find ourselves in a dark valley this morning we can take comfort that the shepherd is at our side. Are there bad shepherds out there? Shepherds who are selfish and don't shepherd after God's heart? Yes, but let him worry about that. Like faithful sheep ours is to come to the shepherd who is great and good. Ours is to trust him.
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