The Call of the Good Shepherd

The Twenty-third Psalm, today's responsorial psalm, is arguably the best known of all the psalms. The line that reads "Even though I walk in the dark valley / I fear no evil; for you are at my side / with your rod and your staff/that give me courage" (Psalm 23:4) connects this week's scriptures to the wonderful story of the road to Emmaus, which we heard last week.

The Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is constantly at our side. He calls us each by name, beckoning us into a deeper relationship with him. That call, issued to each of us at the moment of our baptism, carries with it the promise of the Good Shepherd: "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10)