Reflections
"We are God's people,
the sheep of his flock."
The Psalm begins with a call for us to 'sing joyfully to the Lord.' And as our psalmist says, we are called to 'worship the Lord with cries of gladness; come before Him with joyful song.'
But after all, we are like sheep,
and we need someone to look
after us so that we don't go astray.
What could be better than to have Jesus
as our Good Shepherd? We are his
lambs; we hear his voice; He knows
us; and we follow Him.
As our psalmist says, we belong to God.
And God has given us to his Son. No one
can take us out of his hand.
We are a well tended flock indeed.
As our Lord's sheep, we hear his voice,
we follow Him, and we praise Him because,
'Good indeed is the Lord, his love endures
forever, his faithfulness lasts through every
generation.'
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. There is something comforting about being shepherded by our Lord Jesus. Our psalmist says we are 'the flock He tends.'
Speak of how you feel to be one of His sheep.
2. The Psalm tells us to 'serve the Lord with gladness.' Give an example of how you are serving Him with a joyful spirit.
Speak of how you feel to be one of His sheep.
2. The Psalm tells us to 'serve the Lord with gladness.' Give an example of how you are serving Him with a joyful spirit.
I believe one of the gifts I have been blessed with is holy joy. I can feel delight in God's arms no matter what is going on around me, or in the lives of my loved ones. I can "wake up and make a joyful noise" like the birds outside my window are doing everyday. However, as soon as I boast of this gift, the attacks do come, challenging my ability to "serve the Lord with gladness."
ReplyDeleteIn my fight then to maintain holy joy, I turn to methods such as Adoration, the Eucharist, fellowship, journaling, or praying the rosary. Recently, I was reminded that I can also turn to the lives of the saints.
Saint Therese of Lisieux is one for whom I have newfound respect. Daily, I need wisdom to guide myself and my family out of the tangle of the comparison game. One very clever analogy used by Saint Therese is that of the garden of life.
In "Story of a Soul," she writes, "The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realized that if every flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay."
After reading this, I am at once comforted. Like even the smallest flower, we are clothed in the Lord's majesty in unique ways and we simply bloom where we're planted... and when the Lord wills it.
I am empowered to call on such saintly advice. And in so doing, I can more easily return the joyfulness the Lord has sowed within me.