Good Shepherd sunday

this evening, my entire family and i were fortunate enough to attend a mass celebrated by cardinal rosales. his homily was about john 10:11-18 where Jesus says He is the Good Shepherd. the cardinal pointed out that in our various roles in life, we are all shepherds in one form or another. we are parents, teachers, employers, priests/pastors. he went on to mention the 3 aspects of a good shepherd.

1. the good shepherd knows his flock, and his flock knows him:  the good shepherd takes time and effort to know what his flock needs and expects of him, and he makes himself known to this flock. a parent must take the effort to know his child and his needs. he also makes himself known to his child in all truth and honesty.
2. the good shepherd will do anything and everything for the good of his flock: nothing is too difficult nor too demanding for his flock. he is not a hired hand, so he truly cares for the welfare of his flock. renumeration is not an issue for the good shepherd. being a good shepherd is self-sacrificial love, a total giving of oneself to others.
3. there is no repaying the efforts of the good shepherd:  a child will never be able to repay the love and care of a good parent. a student cannot renumerate a good teacher for his patience, concern, and dedication. the only valid repayment is for the child or student to pass on the good deeds of the good parent or good teacher on to others placed in his care.

as a parent, i kept trying to dodge the verbal blows that came my way as i sat listening to the cardinal.

i try my best to get to know my children, but i haven't really made myself that available to them to give them a chance to get to know me well. when they want to speak to me, i'm busy. when i want to speak to them, they're on to something else.  i realize it's not a question of their freeing themselves up for me, but rather for me to make them my priority in life.

the cardinal spoke of a quotation he tried to live by as a young priest. 'if, at the end of the day, you find sometime to be with yourself, then you haven't fulfilled your role as priest.' boy, that's a tough one. something i can't claim to have done with my children. i've always made sure i had sometime left for me, for i valued my privacy. i kid myself and say it's time to be with God, but it's really time to be with myself. that is time i could have shared with my children.

as for the third aspect of a good shepherd, the cardinal says that not riches, nor cars, nor vacation trips can repay the love of a parent. maybe not, but those could be steps in the right direction. truth to tell though, i have to pray that my children do a better job at parenting than i have.

these days, i seem to be learning something from almost everything that comes my way. maybe it's just a heightened awareness of things around me. whatever, i thank the Lord it's there.

tomorrow, i have a date with my doctors to learn the real score. and to have my staples removed from my wound. so, i'll probably have an update for you again tomorrow night.