CSSS

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The image of Jesus and of the Good Shepherd takes us to the heart of the church's ongoing meditation on nonviolence. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of so-called Christian pacifism is the imagined scene in which we are called upon to defend others from harm. While we might make an inner determination to "turn the other cheek" in our own defense, would we be able to stand by and allow others to be harmed by an aggressor?

The image of shepherd king current at the time of Jesus was derived from the messianic figure of David who regularly defended his flock by killing attacking lions and bears. Such a powerful shepherd informs the messianic expectations of his own contemporaries. But Jesus will disappoint them. His own role as Good Shepherd will not include killing the enemies of Israel. Instead, he will lay down in his own life the path of the aggressor. Jesus is both Shepherd and the Lamb of Sacrifice. By his death he will face and defeat violence at its root cause, the deep selfishness that strikes down whatever stands in its way.

A person who is willing to lay down his life for others is a powerful defender. Violence seeks combat as self-legitimizing-an enemy to overcome. Jesus proposes the one strategy that puts down all aggressors-an overwhelming love, willing to die, rather than respond in kind.

From our Epistle today, among other things, S. Peter encourages us to be patient. New Testament writers, as well as Jesus, have much to say about patience. The fact that this word is translated in different places by different English words such as endurance and fortitude suggest that we are dealing with a very rich concept.

Patience is the discipline of compassion. Compassion and patience both have the same root word in Latin-the compassionate life is a life lived patiently with others. If we cannot be patient, we cannot be compassionate. If we are unable to suffer ourselves, we cannot suffer with others. If we lack the strength to carry out the burdens of our own lives, we cannot accept the burdens of our neighbor. Patience is the hard discipline of the compassionate Christian.

At first, this may sound disappointing. Each time we hear the word patience, we tend to cringe. It usually means waiting-waiting until daddy gets home; waiting for the bus to come; waiting for the waitress; waiting for the rain to stop; waiting for the test results-that is how the virtue of patience came to be associated with powerlessness, the inability to act, and a general state of passivity and dependence.

But true patience is the opposite of a passive waiting in which we just let things happen and allow others to make things happen. Real patience means to enter into the thick of life and to bear the sufferings of those around us. Patience is the capacity to actually see the inner and outer events of our life. It is the capacity to feel and smell and hear and touch the heart of humanity. Compassionate patience is to feel the quivering of our own hearts in rhythm with another-a sympathetic vibration with the cosmos.

Patience enables us to get beyond the choice between fleeing and fighting. Patience is the third way of staying with it; living through, listening carefully to what presents itself to us. Patience means stopping on the road to help; overcoming fear of sensitive subjects; paying attention to shameful memories. It means welcoming sincere criticism and evaluating changing circumstances. In short, patience is a willingness to be molded by outside influences even if we have to give up control and enter unknown territory.

It is obvious from this little discourse on one aspect of patience that it is a many splendoured thing. Without wearing the topic and you out, if not already, remember what S. Augustine said: "Patience is love at rest."

And what does this all have to do with the Good Shepherd? Jesus was probably the most patient and compassionate shepherd we will ever read about or know. Sheep know their shepherd because he is a constant in their lives. He guards, day and night. We need to make Jesus a constant in our lives, this patient and compassionate Saviour, knowing that there will never be a question of confusing what he says and what others say to us. By coming to Mass and receiving Holy Communion regularly, strengthening our faith with some kind of religious education, reading and praying, no matter what our age, we will hear his voice more clearly with each passing day, and trying daily to follow the steps of his most holy life.

+ In the Name of the Father…Amen.

-The Rev'd Robert Offerle, CSSS