I could go off on a lot of tangents this morning, but the gospel is pulling me back to shepherd images. When I was a teenager, someone gave me the following (I don’t know the author – does anyone else have a clue?)

Shepherd, shall I tend your sheep?
I with scant shepherd’s skill?
But I see them weep and weep.
And if I do not go who will?
They don’t belong to me
And I’m not sure where the sheepfold is.
But as I look around I see
In a world that is not mine but His
None to go save such as I
So when in the dark I heard them cry
There’s only one thing left do
Look for Your light to lead them to.

I must have been meant to remember those words as that was probably the first thing I every set to music. I sat one afternoon with my guitar and learned the song that played in my head. And now , nearly 4 decades later the words are still clear in my head. Of course I sing it to myself when I try to type it out as the words and melody are now intertwined.

With all the publicity about the Pope’s visit to the US I am bombarded with words and images of Benedict as the [Supreme] Shepherd. We must remember that only Jesus is the Shepherd, and we (including the entire hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church) are the much more like the voice in this Shepherd Song: Looking for the Light to lead them to. May the Pope know the Shepherd’s voice, and may the Light shine brightly for him.