The Woman At The Well

Mary, the Mother of the Good Shepherd

Mother, the heart of the family, Christ the heart of Christian faith, are honored on Good Shepherd Sunday.   It is a day worthy of celebration; a day of love, a day for remembering, a day for family.

Jesus belonged to a culture where family life was highly prized; family was a divine creation.  In Deuteronomy, father was a priest in his home; every Hebrew mother secretly hoped her son might be the Messiah.  Jesus himself lived at home for most of his life where his mother taught him the tenets of Jewish beliefs.

Jesus and his mother taught by example.  At the wedding at Cana, Mary asked her son to help with the couples’ plight, just as she often intercedes for us.  She did not wait for Jesus to answer, but instead told the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn2:5) and the water in the water jugs was transformed into the best of wine. A reciprocal love between mother and son, between Mary and Jesus, Mary and humanity, ensued.

Mary, the first Christian, first believer of Christ, was given as our mother on the cross on Calvary: “Woman, behold your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” (Jn 17:25-27)  Here is an example of filial love, of her union with Christ and us.  Mary, always following the will of the Father remains forever in her calling as Mother, forever reminding us of the love of Jesus for us.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, loves us as his mother loved and cared for him.  Christ, ever faithful, loves us his smelly, poor, hungry flock as only God could: without barriers, without conditions.  He loves us sickly, imperfect people, unable to heal ourselves, needy for Love, wanting true peace and hope as we go about our work, the work He intended for us from all eternity.

Jesus lived among shepherds and sheep; they were common around Bethlehem.  His listeners knew the relationship of love, trust, care, between a shepherd and his flock.  They knew the shepherd slept at the gate entrance, guarding the flock against intruders.  We are the flock of sheep.  Jesus tells Simon Peter :”Feed my sheep.”(Jn21:17)Again He says, ”Feed my lambs.”(Jn21:15) and again, “Tend my sheep.”(Jn2116)

Sometimes we, like sheep, need to be carried; we need to be healed; sometimes the sheep fail to follow the voice of the shepherd; always the sheep need to be led by our faithful Shepherd.  “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”(Jn10:6-9)

Christ, the gate, the pathway, the physician, the Way, is our Good Shepherd.  He says, ”Follow me(Matt8:22),  showing us how to be good shepherds to our flock, to be an active presence to our community, our world.

We too can be Christ’s good shepherds; we the people of his flock:

Us, being receptive to His voice: ”Love one another, as I have loved you.”(Jn15:16)

Us, disciplining ourselves through prayer and fasting;

Us, training to become His disciples;

Us, open to the Spirit’s words of wisdom.

Us, able to listen to His calm loving voice in the midst of a noisy world;

Us, discovering the best in man, looking as Christ did beneath man’s surface façade.

Us, making our world one; us, not being divided into “us” and “them;

Us, working together for the good of all, the good of all the flock, of all the earth;

Us, making a continual act of will, giving up self, to nourish the flock, to show love to all;

Us, detaching ourselves from all that takes us away from the Shepherd;

Us, being fed by His bread and scripture, becoming God-filled vessels going forth into a weary world that is bellowing like sheep in a shepherd-less crowd;

Us, being led by the Good Shepherd.