GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY: A DAY OF ECSTASY


" I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and My sheep know Me in the same way that the Father knows me and I know the Father."
~ John 10:14-15

The Scriptures promise that we can have an intimate union with with Christ in the same way that the Father and the Son have a loving, intimate union. By God's grace, we become "sharers of the Divine nature" and have a Divine relationship with Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

In a Divine relationship, there is unity and love that we as human beings can't imagine (Eph. 3:20). In fact, we can't even ask for it since no human words can express this relationship. Paul claimed he was snatched up to Paradise to hear words which cannot be uttered, words which no man may speak (2 Cor 12:4). He could only say, "Eye has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love Him."

"Dearly beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be later be has not yet come to light. We know that when it comes to light we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

Let God love and surprise you. We share in both the agony and ecstasy of Christ. Ectasy is not only for exceptional saints but for all those who let God love them. It is God's gift to you.

~Excerpted in part from One Bread, One Body


The King Of Love My Shepherd Is

The King of Love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness fails me never;
I nothing lack if I am His,
and He is mine forever.
Where streams of living water flow
With gentle care He leads me,
And where the verdant pastures grow
With Heav'nly food He feeds me.
Perverse and foolish I have strayed
But yet in love He sought me,
and on His shoulder gently laid,
and home, rejoicing brought me.
In death's dark vale I fear no ill
With You, dear Lord, beside me,
Your rod and staff my comfort still,
Your Cross before to guide me.
You spread a table in my sight,
Your saving grace bestowing;
And O what joy and true delight
From Your pure chalice flowing!
And so through all the length of days
Your goodness fails me never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Your praise
Within Your house forever.

~St. Columba
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