The Good Shepherd

Beloved:
See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are. (1 John 3:1)

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)

I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me (John 10)

This Sunday we celebrate Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Several weeks ago I had a beautiful experience of this. Jeff and I were invited by a couple in our parish to attend a gala supporting the Catholic classical school here in Green Bay. My Shepherd’s first nudge came in both Jeff and I feeling that we should go ahead and purchase the tickets, it sounded like fun. Why is this the first nudge? Jeff and I walked our children through 18 consecutive years of Catholic education which includes the expected support of the yearly auction night. When our children finally matriculated we were both relieved to be relieved of that particular obligation. On top of that, our children attended different schools than the one this auction would be supporting. While I carried the invitation around with the good intention of buying our tickets, I am a classic procrastinator and it wasn’t until the second to last day that tickets could be purchased that I went online. Tickets were in fact sold out. We had missed the boat. The next week at church I had to admit to our friends that we weren’t able to get tickets. They suggested that we email the co-chair, who we have just recently gotten to know, asking to be put on a waiting list. Enter again the Good Shepherd who gave me the humility to reach out and acknowledge that I had procrastinated too long in buying our tickets. Wihin 3 minutes I received an email back. A sponsor who had purchased a table donated the table back to offer tickets to some individuals that the chairs felt would like to attend. Jeff and I were now going and for free! We were both so excited that the Holy Spirit had worked in this way and felt like our Father was providing us with a date night. Ahead of the auction I was able to peruse the auction items that were available to bid on. There were two that caught my eye and I entered the bidding fray. On the night of the auction as I took a closer look at these offerings, a separate auction item caught my eye. It was one that I had quickly looked over online but something about it nudged me to bid. For those of you who haven’t been to one of these events, or like Jeff and I, not recently, they are completely handled online these days. You enter your bid and your high bid and get notifications throughout the night as to when you are bid up or outbid. As the night progressed and my two priority bids were going up I made the decision that if I got outbid on my impulse bid, I wouldn’t go higher. I was reaching the max of our budget. We ended up getting all three auction items, the impulse bid was never raised. Upon delivering all of my goodies into the house I took a closer look at my ‘wins.’ The item that was my Good Shepherd nudge was a canvas picture of an angel holding a baby. Alongside it were several cards with the same image and a prayer from a mother to God for her miscarried child. My heart was immediately moved and I felt bad that I had not fully appreciated this print. Jeff and I have children in heaven due to miscarriage. The next morning my phone rang at 6:45am. It shouldn’t have rung, it is on do not disturb until 7:00am. It was my good friend Meg so I took the call. She explained that she knew I still got up early to pray and that she hoped she wasn’t disturbing that, but that she had a special prayer request especially since it was Divine Mercy Sunday. I lightheartedly told her that I was in fact sleeping but would head to prayer soon. Meg shared that a dear friend who has had struggles getting pregnant lost her baby to miscarriage earlier that week and could I lift her in prayer. I suddenly knew. I knew why Jeff and I had been given free tickets to be at that gala. I knew why I had been nudged to bid on that art piece. I knew why I had not been outbid. That piece of art was not for me, it was for Meg’s friend. I shared the story with Meg and arranged to bring the art to Mass for Meg to pass along. Last week Meg and I finally had the chance to follow up on her friend. Meg told me that she waited for the Holy Spirit to nudge her to the right time to get the artwork and give it to her friend. Her friend was sharing that her greatest grief was in not knowing where her baby was or if her baby was okay. When Meg gave her the artwork she cried and told Meg that in prayer she had asked for a sign from God that her baby was okay and this piece of art was exactly that. She shared that for the first time since she lost her baby she felt peace. Jesus is indeed a Good Shepherd Who tends to His flock; He nudges us here and there so that we can be part of God’s loving provision for others. I am continually filled with awe at the love of God for us and the amazing ways that He allows us to glimpse this love. The next time you feel a nudge think of Jesus gently steering you and follow the nudge. The greatest gift we receive oftentimes is the one we are invited to give to another.