The Lord is my Shepherd 3

The Lord is my Shepherd        3
Many nowadays look down on this idea of belonging to ‘The Fold of Jesus Christ’, they consider it as something of old, maybe a mediaeval thought. We are living in modern world with modern outlook. That, for them is an antiquated idea… something to be viewed in a Museum.

Yet, notwithstanding, even THEY, do belong to a fold. Unknowingly they are manipulated, pulled along from their very noses, they are reshaped, conditioned by media. Just take a breakfast product. You hear and see that product day in day out, unknowingly you fall for it … the first time you visit the market. There it is on the shelf. Ah, this is the product which modern people are having for breakfast, this is the IDEAL thing. There you are, you’ll buy it and use it because other people are doing just that… especially Hollywood people.

This thing, better known as indoctrination, manipulation is going on and on every single day in purchasing cars, in fashion, in buying houses, in every aspect of life. SO, even these people ARE part of the fold… of a fold that wipes away , steals your personal preferences, your talents, aborts you of your own free will.

Not so the Fold of the Good Shepherd. In the Church each and every member retains his or her talents, unique talents given by God, according to our abilities and character, so that we will be in a position to choose our particular way for salvation, whilst trying to discover God’s Plan for us.
Besides in the Fold of the Good Shepherd, we have a Guarantee, according to St.John, the Apostle, in his 2^nd Letter: “Beloved, now we know that we are the children of God.”   This is greatest achievement any person can gain. It is a much greater honour than all the Degrees and Diplomas gained from University at the cost of much sacrifice and studies…                                                                                  ”WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.”   Isn’t that great ?

To really appreciate Psalm 23, we have to forget the romanticism of lush green meadows in a beautiful sunrise or sunset with the shepherd playing on his flute a love song to his shepherdess. That is just the icing sugar decoration on a cake. We have to dig deeper for more profound meanings.

This Psalm is a reflection of all that happened in the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt; their sufferings, their hopes in the Lord, their experiencing of the dark valley of darkness, their seeking for food and water, the leader’s hope and faith in the Lord, the presence of the Lord in their midst. All these thoughts are found in this beautiful profound Psalm… the Psalm of Hope.     … / 4