By Catholic Columnist, Faith Addington
A shepherd is a herder of sheep; one who not only provides food and water for the sheep, but also guidance. A shepherd leads his sheep to greener pastures and protects his sheep from wolves; a shepherd leads his sheep away from harm, whether it be physical or emotional well-being. Just as our own Good Shepherd does for us.
Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, through His entire life, demonstrated what it was to be the Good Shepherd: He laid His life down for His sheep, He led His sheep to greener pastures through revelation of the truth, and He knows each and every one of His sheep by name. The Good Shepherd loves His sheep for the sake of their existence and wants to bring them to a place of complete joy and goodness. We are His sheep.
The world is full of sheep, of children of God, awaiting guidance and protection and leadership. While this world has an over-abundance of sheep, it is lacking in shepherds. As God’s people — the ones who possess the knowledge and belief of His truth — we are called to step up and lead. Lead God’s children who are lost or have fallen away from the path of truth. We are called to fearlessly take possession of this truth and allow it to permeate our full being so that we can lead others to righteousness.
God works through all of us; building each of us to be a shepherd in our own way. He will use our gifts and talents to become models and leaders of His truth, we simply must let Him work through us. He has bestowed upon each of us our own abilities for teaching, service, craftsmanship, writing, evangelism and many more. To do this, we need to listen to His voice. We need to submit to His will.
God is calling us each by name to preach His truth: to preach peace, love, and hope; to become a shepherd of His sheep. We are called to be leaders in the classroom. We are called to be leaders in the lunchroom. We are called to be leaders at work. We are called to be leaders on the sports field. We are called to be leaders of His truth every breath of our life, to bring as many sheep home to the Lord as we can.
The Saint 