Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Divine Dialogue of God with the Soul

By Mother Marie Julie, SCMC

My Dear Good People,

Today’s readings at Mass are full of peace, especially the peace of ‘the flock’ that rests in knowing that the shepherd is ever aware and watchful for their needs (Jer. 23:1-6, Psalm 23, Mark 6: 30-34). Yes, in real life, the sheep are largely fearless—surely not because they are brave, but because they don’t know enough to be afraid, so confident are they in their shepherd.

Would that we, ‘the sheep of His pasture,’ might be as fearless because we know that God is always mindful of us, watching over us, on call for us. Of course, we wear our seat belts, lock our doors at night, take our vitamins and charge our cell phones. That’s just good common sense. But when it comes to those things over which we have little or no control, it isn’t so easy to be ‘fearless.’ For most of us, worry is as much a part of our lives as watching the weather report. What if…? It might happen that….  I’d better be sure…  Yet as Psalm 23 reminds us today, Even though I walk in the dark valley…You are at my side with Your rod and Your staff that give me courage.  In our hearts we know it, but in our heads, well, we just aren’t quite sure.

How, then, can we move from our heads to our hearts, into that quiet confidence that the Heart of Jesus ‘was moved with  pity for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd  (Mark 6:34)?  How do we learn to live in the house of love rather than in the house of fear?

Like anything else, by force of habit. If we grow into the habit of saying, Jesus, my dear Shepherd, I place my trust in You–when we wake up trembling at night, when we worry about unpaid bills, while we await a report from the doctor or look for an answer to prayer–we not only calm ourselves, but we touch the Heart of Jesus by our willingness to believe that He will, after all, take care of us.

We might feel like sheep without a shepherd sometimes, but the truth is,

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures He gives me repose; beside restful waters He leads me; He refreshes my soul (Psalm 23).

I’ll meet you by the quiet stream of His loving care.

God bless you.