Italy- Psalm 22 is one of the wonders, one of the most precious treasures of all Scripture: Words loved, repeated, and prayed by every generation: God as shepherd, guide, saving host. What tenderness in defining God as a shepherd: there is all his agape, his providence, his caring for each of us, looking after us, knowing our rhythms, preparing for us quiet waters and pastures, leading us step by step even through darkness and dangers, defending us, retrieving us if lost, giving his life for us!
- What security, what serenity, what peace, what joy must arise for us from contemplating this mystery! We are no longer the ones who have to manage and plan our life. We are no longer the ones who have to search for our way. We are no longer alone in danger and difficulties. God is there, thinking of us, providing for us, helping us. Our anxiety, our anguish melts away.
- Jesus presents himself in the Gospel of John as the “kalòs” shepherd (Jn 10:11), literally “beautiful”, that is, “ideal”, “model”, “perfect”. He is the Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep (in Jn 10:11-18 this theme is taken up no fewer than five times). To his flock he then offers “food that does not perish” (Jn 6:27), “true food and true drink” (Jn 6:55), his “flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51). Christ saves us, guides us, consoles us, protects us, satisfies our deepest needs, fulfills our expectations, dissolves our fears, overcomes our creaturely limitations. Every Eucharist of ours must truly be total adherence to Jesus the Shepherd, so that we “will never go hungry and never be thirsty” for eternity (Jn 6:35).
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Psalm XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
23 September 2026