Two flocks of sheep shared the same pen at night. Early in the morning, one of the shepherds opened the pen, and cried ‘Marah’, which is the Arabic for ‘follow me’ and all of his sheep left the pen and followed him. Another man, watching this, was fascinated so he borrowed the other shepherd’s cloak and staff, and cried out ‘Marah’-and none of the sheep paid the slightest heed to him! He asked the shepherd if any of the sheep would ever follow someone else rather than him. ‘Yes’, said the shepherd, ‘Sometimes a sheep can be so sick that it will follow anyone!’ [J. Mcardle]

We are all sick in many ways, physically, mentally, morally and even spiritually. Because of these illnesses we tend to follow anyone else who is offering us for a seemingly “CURE”, but in reality just a “RELIEF”,  instead of following God who is speaking to us from within our hearts and can really heal us. Yes, experience tells us that, no amount of worldly things or wealth, or fame, or honour can make us completely and absolutely happy. It is because only God can give us this real and eternal happiness that we longed for. Some of us even deny God’s existence, or put God aside, or chose not to listen to our Good Shepherd who would lead to a greener pasture and refreshing waters of life. But no amount of denying God in our lives can ever disprove God’s presence, majesty and wonders, that he showed and shared with us.

Today, let’s look at our lives.

Let’s look at our world…

In what way or ways are we sick?

What are we following?

What are we doing?

Jesus our Good shepherd always calls us to him, we only have to keep still and listen to him, which is quite a big challenge for us now because of the many ‘noises’ around us that block us from listening to the voice of our Good Shepherd.

I am the good Shepherd; I know mine, and mine know me. They will heed my voice.’

‘Seldom have I seen a young person get into trouble without having being led there by someone else. Surely we must accept that the opposite is always true. Therefore, we all  have an obligation to give leadership.’‘[j.mcardle]