ServantofLove_Flip

BENEDICT XVI • 109 The Lord, Shepherd and Host The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You set a table before me in front of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days. As the Psalmist says, God guides him to “green pastures” and “still waters,” where everything is superabundant, everything is given in plenty. If the Lord is the Shepherd, even in the desert, a desolate place of death, the certainty of a radical presence of life is not absent, so that he is able to say “I shall not want.” Indeed, the shepherd has at heart the good of his f lock, he adapts his own pace and needs to those of his sheep, he walks and lives with them, leading them on paths “of righteousness,” that is, suitable for them, paying attention to their needs and not to his own. The safety of his sheep is a priority for him, and he complies with this in leading his f lock. If we follow the “Good Shepherd”—no matter how difficult, tortuous or long the pathways of our life may seem, even through spiritual deserts without water and under the scorching sun of rationalism—with the guidance of Christ the Good Shepherd, we too, like the Psalmist, may be sure that we are walking on “paths of righteousness” and that the Lord is leading us, is ever close to us, and that we “shall lack nothing.” For this reason the Psalmist can declare his calm assurance without doubt or fear: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. Those who walk with the Lord even in the dark valleys of suffering, doubt and all the human problems, feel safe. You are with me: this is our certainty, this is what supports us.182 182 Benedict XVI, General Audience of October 5, 2011, on Psalm 23. Psalm 23 © Bridgeman Meditation on Psalm 23 The Good Shepherd (c. 1650), Philippe de Champaigne (1602-74), Museum of Fine Arts of Tours, France. P R A Y I N G wi th Benedict XVI

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