By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is
made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord
our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39
“I am the gate. Whoever
enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and
destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” John 10:9-10
Piety
Piety is the call on our
hearts to be a good shepherd for all those we serve. Christ is the good Shepherd who enters our
lives by giving us his life. He takes
care of his flock and defends us by giving us his life in giving up his life
for our sakes. He calls us by name. Even as our hearts recognize who is calling,
he recognizes us by the way we call out for his help in our lives. Christ enters our lives through the door of
our hearts. He loves us and calls us to
be one of his flocks. The way we share
our lives with others is how his flock is identified. “See
how the Christians love one another” cannot be said too often. We are known as his disciples by our love.
Study
We study how to be more
loving by our deeds. There should be no
such a thing as a sad Christians. Joy is
how we are to be recognized. A
Christians brings peace by the patience, kindness and generosity of
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control lived out in the justice that is
offered to all. The fruits of the Spirit
are the marks of the Christians in the flock of the good shepherd. The flock enters through the door of the
church. The Body of Christ is made well
by the way we make the church the Mystical Body of Christ. The Sacraments are the ongoing life of the
humanness of Christ on earth. The Christ
of his human body is safe in heaven. We
are his body on earth by the sacramental life of the Church.
Action
We return to the Church at
least every Sunday to be fed as his flock.
The Church is where we can rest in the Christ of each other. We need each other safe in the sheepfold to
know in our togetherness the many faces of Christ that make up the sheepfold. The Christ of our hearts is fleshed out in
our togetherness as the flock of Christ.
He feeds us in the Eucharist that is relived in the giving of his life
for us in the shared Eucharist that makes us one in the Lord. We build up the flock by the love that is
shared in how we are Eucharist for each other.
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