Daily Retreat 04/14/08
2008 Apr 14 Mon: Easter Weekday
Acts 11: 1-18/ Ps 41(42): 2-3; 43: 3-4/ Jn 10: 11-18
From today’s readings: “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.... I will go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy.... I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep....”
More About Our Good Shepherd
One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Good Shepherd is the disposition to lay down his life for his sheep. Jesus, in fact, mentions this trait several times. So I bring your attention once again to this peculiarity of the Good Shepherd, his readiness to lay down his life for his sheep, because, like so many things Jesus said, the idea itself is disturbingly mind-boggling, but because we’ve all heard it before a number of times, we’ve become too numb to be shaken by the extraordinary words.
For, in the normal order of things, while it’s unquestionably noble and the supreme sacrifice of love for a man to lay down his life for his friends, it’s tragic for any man to lay down his life for mere sheep, whether it’s ten sheep, a hundred sheep, or even a million sheep - there’s no way any number of sheep can be counted as outweighing the life of a single human being.
Now, even the most confused literalist doesn’t believe that Jesus is here espousing a reckless style of actual shepherding, whereby the sheepman is expected, for instance, to be the wolf’s dinner to insure that sheep may safely graze. So, are we then just to dismiss this self-sacrificing aspect of the Good Shepherd as an inappropriately over-driven hyperbole?
Actually, the Lord’s figure of speech is not an exaggeration at all - if anything, it’s actually a restrained understatement to help us fathom the limitless love behind the divine decision that, in the person of Jesus, God Himself would lay down His life, willingly, for the sake of His “sheep,” His creatures, i.e., for you and for me, and for all of humanity.
In his novel Charlotte's Web, E.B. White writes of a spider who lays down her life, who gives her all, so that a runt pig may live. Now, any farmer would, of course, be happy to trade all his resident spiders for any size of pig, no matter how small, and yet, despite the intrinsic worthlessness of her own arachnid life, Charlotte’s self-sacrifice successfully ennobles even the apparent worthlessness of Wilber’s swinish life. That’s the transforming power of self-sacrifice!
To an infinitely higher degree then, the value of human life, which in itself, is already beyond simple human appraisal, was immeasurably ennobled by the inestimable self-sacrifice of the divine life of Jesus. As St. John writes, “Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are!” No longer mere exalted creatures of God - we are God’s children, because the loving self-sacrifice of Jesus has ennobled our very nature!
Jesus, the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. He didn’t throw away His life, His life wasn’t taken from Him! He lays down His life for His sheep, simply so that, in taking it up again, we sheep may have a full share in His divine life!
P.S. Remember to pray for our Holy Father and good shepherd, Benedict XVI, as he travels to the USA.....
Acts 11: 1-18/ Ps 41(42): 2-3; 43: 3-4/ Jn 10: 11-18
From today’s readings: “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.... I will go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy.... I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep....”
More About Our Good Shepherd
One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Good Shepherd is the disposition to lay down his life for his sheep. Jesus, in fact, mentions this trait several times. So I bring your attention once again to this peculiarity of the Good Shepherd, his readiness to lay down his life for his sheep, because, like so many things Jesus said, the idea itself is disturbingly mind-boggling, but because we’ve all heard it before a number of times, we’ve become too numb to be shaken by the extraordinary words.
For, in the normal order of things, while it’s unquestionably noble and the supreme sacrifice of love for a man to lay down his life for his friends, it’s tragic for any man to lay down his life for mere sheep, whether it’s ten sheep, a hundred sheep, or even a million sheep - there’s no way any number of sheep can be counted as outweighing the life of a single human being.
Now, even the most confused literalist doesn’t believe that Jesus is here espousing a reckless style of actual shepherding, whereby the sheepman is expected, for instance, to be the wolf’s dinner to insure that sheep may safely graze. So, are we then just to dismiss this self-sacrificing aspect of the Good Shepherd as an inappropriately over-driven hyperbole?
Actually, the Lord’s figure of speech is not an exaggeration at all - if anything, it’s actually a restrained understatement to help us fathom the limitless love behind the divine decision that, in the person of Jesus, God Himself would lay down His life, willingly, for the sake of His “sheep,” His creatures, i.e., for you and for me, and for all of humanity.
In his novel Charlotte's Web, E.B. White writes of a spider who lays down her life, who gives her all, so that a runt pig may live. Now, any farmer would, of course, be happy to trade all his resident spiders for any size of pig, no matter how small, and yet, despite the intrinsic worthlessness of her own arachnid life, Charlotte’s self-sacrifice successfully ennobles even the apparent worthlessness of Wilber’s swinish life. That’s the transforming power of self-sacrifice!
To an infinitely higher degree then, the value of human life, which in itself, is already beyond simple human appraisal, was immeasurably ennobled by the inestimable self-sacrifice of the divine life of Jesus. As St. John writes, “Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are!” No longer mere exalted creatures of God - we are God’s children, because the loving self-sacrifice of Jesus has ennobled our very nature!
Jesus, the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. He didn’t throw away His life, His life wasn’t taken from Him! He lays down His life for His sheep, simply so that, in taking it up again, we sheep may have a full share in His divine life!
P.S. Remember to pray for our Holy Father and good shepherd, Benedict XVI, as he travels to the USA.....
posted by FrPitstick | 4/12/2008
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