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| George Desvallières |
Rejoice with Me
Piety
I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd examines
his flock while he himself is among his scattered sheep, so will I examine my
sheep. I will deliver them from every place where they were scattered on the
day of dark clouds. Ezekiel 34:11-12
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would
not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he
finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and,
upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to
them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'” Luke 15:4-6
Study
If there is any doubt that Christ-centered faith is not a call to
action, we only need to ponder today’s readings. Across millennia, from the sacred texts of
the Hebrew Bible (Ezekiel) through the life of Christ and beyond to our day,
faith does not stop with calling on us to ponder and reflect and pray YES PRAY on
the icons of our faith. That prayer leads us out into the modern-day pastures
to care for the sheep just as the prophets and Jesus showed the way.
Indeed, only with
difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one
might even find the courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we
were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans
5:7-8
Action
Consider the actions in the first reading: Look. Tend. Rescue. Lead. Gather.
Bring. Pasture. Give. Seek. Bind. Heal.
We have to be still and listen to the sound of the beating Heart of Christ. Be still and know that I am God.
Be still in piety.
Know in our study.
I am God is reflected in our action.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Meditate on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
If we desire to enter into the Sacred Heart we have to cultivate
stillness and silence in our lives. But, once joined in union with that heart,
we must allow it to fill our life with the action of Christ.
A heart is
beating at the center of creation: it is the heart of Christ… To take up this
path requires us to be wholly orientated towards the glowing love of God, like
the sunflowers which always turn towards the sun, and (fern-like) ever seeking
to become humble of heart.[i]
How can you be the hands and feet that continue this mission today?
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