« Prayer and Praise 23 August 2004--Memorial of St. Rose of Lima | Main | Book Review--The Holy Way Paula Huston »
August 23, 2004
For Those Who Would Too Readily Criticize Our Bishops
From this morning's Office of Readings:
from An Exposition on John
St. Thomas AquinasThe Good Shepherd does not demand that shepherds lay down their lives for a real flock of sheep. But every spiritual shepherd must endure the loss of his bodily life for the salvation of the flock, since the spiritual good of the flock is more important than the bodily life of the shepherd, when danger threatens the salvation of the flock. This is why the Lord says: The good shepherd lays down his life, that is, his physical life for his sheep: this he does because of his authority and love. Both, in fact, are required: that they should be ruled by him, and that he should love them. The first without the second is not enough.
It intrigues me that our shepherds part with their lives in solidarity with the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. As Paul says, "Making up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ." If this is so, with what a great and tremendous office they are invested--no matter how weak the vessel. One would do well to think twice about what one might wish to say regarding a person whose death contributes to the life of all in some mysterious capacity.
Posted by Steven Riddle at August 23, 2004 6:57 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.stblogs.org/scgi-bin/mv/mt-tb.cgi/9507