Is the Lord Truly My Shepherd?

Whenever Mother Church gives us Psalm 23 to pray, as she did in yesterday's Mass, I like to reflect upon the intimate bond a shepherd has with each one of his sheep. I often go back to Phillip Keller's book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Keller says in his introduction that he grew up and lived in East Africa, "surrounded by simple native herders whose customs closely resembled those of their counterparts in the Middle East." Also, as a young man, he made his livelihood for about eight years as a sheep owner and sheep rancher. Between his firsthand experience as a shepherd of sheep and his obvious love for Christ our Good Shepherd, Keller has written a contemporary classic full of insight and wisdom.

In the beginning of his book, Keller recalls buying his first 30 ewes. After herding them home and getting them settled, his first job was to put his mark on them. "Each sheep-man has his own distinctive earmark which he cuts into one or other of the ears of his sheep. In this way, even at a distance, it is easy to determine to whom the sheep belongs." Notching the ear of each ewe is a painful but necessary job that results in "an indelible lifelong mark of ownership".

I also have been marked by the One to whom I belong. Christ Crucified and Risen has sealed me with the sign of His cross, and His mark will never be erased. But do I always live in fidelity to my Good Shepherd, does my life bring glory or shame to His cross?

Keller puts forth these questions about how we live up to our mark as Christians.

Do I really belong to Him?

Do I really recognize His right to me?

Do I respond to His authority and acknowledge His ownership?

Do I find freedom and complete fulfillment in this arrangement?

Do I sense a purpose and deep contentment because I am under His direction?

Do I know rest and repose, besides a definite sense of exciting adventure, in
belonging to Him?

Yesterday in the second reading from the Office of Readings, St. Ignatius said: "We should then really live as Christians and not merely have the name." Am I a sheep in name only or does my life truly proclaim that Christ is my Good Shepherd?

Lord Jesus, my one and only Shepherd, I do want to belong totally to you, but in foolish pride I often go astray. Come after me, dear Jesus, and bring me home to You! Amen.

P.S. For an excellent synopsis of Keller's book, check out Learning from a Real Shepherd, Dr. W Phillip Keller, by April Lorier