Scripture Reflections for The Fourth Sunday of Easter: May 3, 2009

One of the most comforting of the images of Christ is given in today’s Gospel—that of the Good Shepherd. The hired hand runs when the wolf comes, and what does the wolf do? He doesn’t “eat” the sheep, he scatters the flock. What an interesting image of evil! Evil as forces that “scatter” us! Do you ever feel “pulled in 90 directions?” Have you felt “ripped apart, the pieces strewn about,” and you can’t pull yourself together? The Good Shepherd gathers all the “pieces”—each of the lost bits of the flock, and puts them back together. Let us each pray that the Healing Power of the Abiding Presence of the Good Shepherd will be with us all this week, healing us, and pulling us together in bonds of personal integrity, and in ties of love and friendship.