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Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 26th April 2015


Fr Robin Gibbons

Fr Robin Gibbons

Fourth Sunday of Easter - 26th April 2015

Where I live, ten miles outside Oxford, the fields are full of lambs and sheep, you can hear the bleating of the little ones seeking out their mothers and the reassuring answers. It's always been part of my conscious life and goes with bluebells and apple blossom, yellow rape seed and the greening of hedgerow and tree. There are still deer, rabbits and hares to be seen in the Blenheim Estate fields, red kites hovering over carrion and the cawing of the full rookeries.

The Cycle of our spring time new life is well on its way. We used to have proper ancient style shepherds, but because of the way our sheep are now husbanded, that's no longer done in this area, but if I travel out further into the Cotswolds, the ancient pattern of shepherding with humans, dogs and sheep still goes on.

It's good to remind ourselves that this is one of Jesus' favourite images, the intimacy of a shepherd with the flock, and their response of trust, is something that he obviously loved. Here he found a metaphor for the way in which he and his disciples were to act with others. But it's not simply a message of care, its also a call to reach out beyond our boundaries to include others.

The ancient Christians loved this image of Christ the Good Shepherd, it often occurs in their art, but it is also present in their hymns and prayers. Even today Psalm 23, 'The Lord's my Shepherd' is popular at weddings and funerals alike!

We know our shepherd, in baptism, through the Holy Spirit, Christ's name seals us, so that we are his, called to grow more and more like him until that day when we shall see him face to face.

We are also called to be shepherds in our own way, doing the things the Good Shepherd does, laying down our life for others, not running away from difficulties and problems, trying to understand others (knowing their name!). We are not an exclusive group, Jesus is clear there are others 'not of this flock' who hear his voice. That's the wider ecumenism we are called to, reaching out beyond denomination and Church, to see with God's eyes that we are all called to be 'one flock with one shepherd'.

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Great Britain.

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