Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our Lord Jesus Christ the King
The Lord is my shepherd
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me; you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name. Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage. You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come. Psa 23
Everyone in the life dreams of being a lion, because all of us we are fascinated by the myth of the power, of the strength and of the royalty. The young people who play soccer, or run by the bicycle, hope to become the champions, not the subordinates, because the man’s desire, which the society continuously feeds with its idols, is to be a winner. The subordinates are the ones who failed to become the champions. In every man, however, also the slumbering spirit of the sheep exists, because all of us, including the king, feel the desire to be guided and advised. The psalm of today is attributed to King David. A king like him, who prays the Lord to help him to well govern and to win his enemies, is a king who wants to be driven. In the Ancient Testament the greatest title which is there is ”servant”, in the New it is “son”.The changing of the role is due to the fact that in the New Testament made by Jesus Christ, he is the eldest son, we are adopted sons, but we are all sons. Moses is the servant of God, Jesus is the Son of the Father, but both had the need to spend long time in prayer, on the mount, to be good shepherds in the earth. Even the man of God feels the need to be guided in order to drive: it is the spirit of the sheep, it is the desire of belonging which, in the depth, exists in each man. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack” these are the first words of the today psalm. Who knows to be well guided is in the peace, in the security, in the peace and in the joy and he knows always what to do, where to go and what to say. In the flock the sheep are led to the pasture by the shepherd, they know they belong to him, but they are free and are not tied by a rope, they can move and go where they want to graze the grass. The sheep do not arise the problem of where to go to graze by winter or summer, this is the job of the shepherd. The uncertainties on their own future beset those who know to not belong to anyone.The sheep, however, may choose in their small area of decision making, to graze the grass here or there, or to nurse the lamb. We are all of us a bit sheep and a bit shepherds.