Speak Lord: again, the goodness of the shepherd

 

This Sunday, the feast of Christ the King, takes psalm 22 (23) as the responsorial psalm

The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.

Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.
He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.

You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.

Psalm 22:1-3,5-6

‘There is nothing I shall want’? That phrase can be used in many ways.

It could mean that he will give me all that I want so that I will want for nothing…

It could mean that he will help me to learn and know how so many of my wants and needs that impact on my living are actually false and illusory, indicative of addiction and mess, rather than things that would help me to a more fulfilled living.

In God, please God, in healthy life in God, may our wants be met. Met, simply and gloriously by God’s being God and you and I, finally and by God’s grace, becoming who we are.

To bring us to that fulfilment, that achievement of our potential, God, the Lord, makes himself our shepherd.

Give Him thanks and praise.

Photograph of painting by Duncan Grant in chapel at Lincoln Cathedral. Photograph (c) 2012, Allen Morris.

 

 

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