The Sheep of the Shepherd

The sheep of the Good Shepherd are a special breed, because they believe.

Lex orandi, lex credendi is a Latin phrase meaning the law of prayer is the law of belief. In other words, we believe what we pray. Critics of Catholicism will sometimes accuse us of violating St. Matthew’s injunction against vain repetitive prayer. But our prayer is not in vain if we believe what we pray.

When we pray the Nicene Creed during the liturgy we profess a belief in the resurrection of the dead and eternal life in heaven. We believe this because the Lord Himself promised us, that if we hear His voice and follow Him, we will have everlasting life. And because of this we belong to Jesus and to the Father.

We hear this so often it is easy to forget the significance of these words. Through the life of Jesus here on earth, His suffering, His resurrection, His Church, and His sacraments we are granted eternal life. When we accept this gift by accepting Christ and His teachings we shall never perish. No one can take us out of the hand of God.

Nothing on earth, not even the physical death of the body, can change this.

Sheep do not ordinarily follow the shepherd. For sheep to know the voice of the shepherd and to follow Him, they would have to be a very special flock. And so we are. We serve with our hearts and our minds. We follow Him because we believe what we pray.

Pax Vobiscum
4th Sunday of Easter