“LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD”

“LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD”

…what a powerful phrase, describing the shortcomings and needs of so many people who seek comfort and hope in the words and actions of Jesus. Those voids that so many of us experience when we have distanced ourselves from God and have tried to fill the absences with wrong presences. There is nothing that can quench the thirst and hunger that the soul experiences like allowing itself to be filled with God himself, because “He made us for Himself, and our hearts will be restless until they rest in Him.” (Saint Augustine)

The sheep need shepherds, people of God who are interested in the well-being of their brothers and sisters. People who seek to do the will of God over themselves and over the portion of the people entrusted by God to them. Humble and generous men and women who give themselves time and time again for Christ, the Gospel and the Church.

In today's gospel (MK 6, 30-34) we see the apostles admiring themselves, for the things they have just done in the name of Christ. And along with the action comes the fatigue that comes with so much activity. Jesus is aware of the effort and exhaustion of the apostles, which is why he takes them to part of the crowd so that they can rest and recover, something so necessary to be able to continue serving and announcing the Kingdom of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Let us thank God for those men and women who have guided and accompanied us along the path of faith. Let us ask God for all of them, so that they always have the strength and wisdom necessary to continue serving the Church, announcing the Gospel and loving Jesus Christ, for whom one day they left everything and decided to follow him.

Fr. Carlos Flores, OSA