Today Robert picked the three of us up for Holy Mass at St. Mary’s as usual and right on time. Mini was ready before anybody, and she acted as if she had been appointed to make sure none of us missed Church. Sister Mary Claire had my missal and her prayer book tucked safely under her arm, and I had been thinking all morning about the little Morning Offering she translated from the 1776 German prayer book.
I started praying it this morning, and it felt very special to know that Catholics were praying from that little book so long ago, before our farm, before St. Mary’s, and before anybody ever knew there would be a Camp Littlemore. Sister Mary Claire does not have each day finished yet, but she hopes to have them done by the end of the week. I am glad, because I like beginning the day by giving everything to Jesus before the day even has a chance to get tangled.
At Mass, Father LeRoy read the Gospel about the sheepfold and the Good Shepherd’s voice. He explained that Jesus is not only the Shepherd who calls His sheep by name, but also the Gate through which the sheep must enter if they want to be safe. Father said that a sheep knows the voice of the one who loves it, feeds it, and protects it. But a strange voice makes the sheep afraid, because it does not belong to love.
I looked down at Mini under the pew when Father said that. Mini knows our voices exactly. She can be sound asleep, but if Sister Mary Claire says her name softly, one ear comes up. If I call her, she comes trotting as if she has been waiting for me all day. But if a stranger calls her too loudly, she looks back at us first, as if to ask, “Is this all right?” That helped me understand the Gospel a little better.
Father LeRoy said the world has many voices. Some voices want to pull us away from prayer, from Holy Mass, from obedience, from kindness, and from Jesus. But the voice of Jesus does not push or trick us. His voice calls us by name and leads us to green pasture, which Father said means grace, truth, peace, and life in our souls.
On the ride home, Sister Mary Claire said the Morning Offering is one way to begin the day by entering through the right Gate. She said when we offer Jesus our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings, we are saying, “Lord, lead me today. I want to hear Your voice first.”
I thought about that when we got back to Camp Littlemore. The farm was quiet, and even the ordinary things seemed to belong to God—the house, the chickens, the road to St. Mary’s, Robert’s faithful pickup, Sister’s prayer book, and Mini’s little paws pattering along beside us. I want Jesus to be the first voice I listen to in the morning and the last voice I remember at night.
Evening Prayer
Dear Jesus, my Good Shepherd,
thank You for calling me by name.
Help me to know Your voice
and not follow any voice that leads me away from You.
Let my Morning Offering help me give the whole day to You,
and keep Sister Mary Claire safe as she finishes the prayers
from the old German book.
Please guard Robert, Father LeRoy, Sister Mary Claire, Mini,
and all of us at Camp Littlemore tonight.
Please watch over Indian Creek,
Shaggycoat in his beaver lodge,
the opossums, raccoons, and all the baby critters
hidden safely down there in the dark.
Lead us through Your holy Gate
and give us the life You came to bring.
Amen.
Love,
Kathy
__________________________
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 10:1-10
Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment