Theological Foundations new file

60 Theological Foundations shepherd has three duties: he should know his flock, he should know exactly how many sheep he has in his flock, he should feed them and defend them from predators. This is what the heavenly Shepherd is like. He knows His sheep well and He assures us about it Himself: “I know My own and My own know Me” (Jn 9, 14). He has them all written down on His Divine hands in immortal script for He says: “Behold, I have graven you on the palms of My hands” (Is 49, 16). He also takes care of the food for His flock, i.e. for our souls, which is expressed in the following invitation: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11, 28). This tender care which we experi- ence at the hands of Our Savior had already been announced by the prophet in these words: “For He will give His angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways” (Ps 91[90], 11). But, the Shepherd Himself, too, surrounds his flock with His care directly: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28, 20). This takes places primarily in the Eucharist. 15 Our author pauses for a moment longer to consider the figure of the Good Shepherd because he himself was also a zealous shepherd. Father Papczynski saw the image of God’s Shepherd in David, who defended his father’s flock from the wild animals as he recalls it himself: “When there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and delivered it out of his mouth; and if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and killed him” (1 Sam 17, 34- 35). This is the kind of shepherd that David was. Jesus, in turn, seeing the “predators from hell” abduct His Father’s flocks, comes to their defense and gives His life up for them. How does He give it up? He exposes His flesh to cruel torture and death, and His soul to sadness and piercing pain. Neither the human mind nor that of an angel can compre- hend it. No one’s lips can express it in words. 16 The more so that Christ “is ready to pour His Blood once again, if necessary, even for just one soul.” 17 How very significant is Father Papczynski’s statement on Christian life, understood as life in Christ, when he depicts Jesus as the Good