Monday 20 June 2016

A Perspective from Rome

I just returned from meetings with an international group of sisters and mission partners within Good Shepherd.  This was a fascinating time to share thoughts and visions for the future of our mission of service and healing among women, children and families whose lives have left them outside the mainstream.  It was so inspiring to meet with folks from so many parts of the world including Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and North  America.  To be with such a diverse group and yet experience how much we held in common as shepherds of people, how similar our value systems were, how parallel our needs, hopes and dreams was a most inspiring moment of unity and hope for a world that can be truly diverse and yet one in our desire for peace and justice.
The week flew by with such positive messages even in the face of the many tragic events that can occur across our world.  During this week was the atrocious killing of gay and lesbian people in Orlando, the murder of a British MP in Scotland, and the ongoing atrocities against women and girls through the pervasive new slavery we call international trafficking.  I remember in my youth when we gathered at events to scream out, “NO to war and YES to peace”.  Perhaps one day this world will find itself in that communal place to proclaim the desire of all peoples for peace, harmony and fairness of right relationships.
At the general house in Rome there was a framed quote from one the truly inspiring Sisters of the Good Shepherd.  She was the author of a book called Redemption where she addressed many of our current challenges in bringing compassion and healing to this wounded world.  She talks a lot about the image of the Shepherd that we so tenderly embrace for ourselves.  In this quote, Sr. Barbara Davis says:
“To fight off the wolf, one cannot at the same time cuddle the lamb. To perform the function of nurturing and caring is very important, but there are times when it is necessary to turn attention and give our energy against what oppresses and threatens.  It is BECAUSE of the value of the sheep, BECAUSE the shepherd values them so highly that one enters into this struggle.
The Shepherd as the one who fights off the ravaging attack of the wolf, even at the cost of one’s life, is a far more daunting, perhaps less attractive image than that of the Shepherd looking for the lost sheep or lamb and carrying it on the shoulders. But surely it represents one of the very necessary tasks of anyone who calls herself a good shepherd.”


This beautiful message caught my attention in the gentleness of our spirit together last week.  It was such a pointed reminder for me how the fulfillment of our vocation to be Christian in this world is more than living a good life in faith and good works.  It is more than a warm smile and a welcoming message.  We are also called to work for change of all those structures, obstacles and people whose actions bring about the dehumanization and degradation of all people, especially the poor.  Fear must never be our guiding light in the darkness.  Faith must never be naïve and can never truly be only a personal experience with God.  We are called into relationship not only with God but with one another.  For this reason, that sometimes unspoken need for community, for surrounding ourselves with persons who will encourage, strengthen and teach us to live as we are invited, in peace, may be the very thing we need to awaken in our hearts and actions.