The fourth Sunday of Lent this year provides us with one of the key prophetic passages from the Old Testament about the person of Jesus Christ.  This prophetic foreshadowing reveals a lot about who a priest is supposed to be.  However, there is also a lot that the laity can gain from this passage as well.

The passage I speak about is from the first reading of this Sunday- the anointing of David as king.  Samuel comes with his horn of oil in order to anoint God’s chosen one and Samuel is led to the house of Jesse in order to anoint one of his sons.  Neither Jesse nor Samuel know which son is to be chosen by God, and so Jesse presents his sons that both he and Samuel think should be the one.  However, the future king is not among these but is rather David.  David, who is out tending to the sheep.  This is not simply incidental, that the king is the one who tends the sheep.

Jesus Christ is often referred to as the Good Shepard, the one of whom the sheep know his voice and will follow him.  We hear many passages in which Jesus Christ uses the image of sheep and shepherds to describe his relationship with his people.  And if we look at this image a little bit more in-depth there is much we can draw out of the image.

Sheep need their shepherd.  Sheep are not intelligent animals.  If there is food in front of them, they will eat it; even if it means their stomach will burst.  Their eyesight is not good at determining contrast, so they will walk off the edge of a cliff if left alone.  They do not have the ability to outrun, outwit, or outfight their predators; not to mention they are tasty animals- they have a lot of predators.  They are in need of their shepherd, not only occasionally but for the very need to survive as a species.  

This is the dependence we need to have on Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.  Jesus Christ set up his church as the way to provide this guidance through time and space.  Our bishops and priests fulfill this role as shepherds, those that give up their lives for their flock.  It is no mistake that the encyclical of Saint Pope John Paul II on how priests are to be formed is entitled Pastores Dabo Vobis- (I will give you shepherds).  The title recalls the promise of God from the book of Jeremiah that God will provide shepherds for his people.  These shepherds, those people chosen by God to give up their lives for their flock are called to live their lives in service of the people of God.

It is precisely from this group- a group of people who give themselves in service- that the king is chosen.  The notion of king, or the one who rules and has power, is intimately tied to the notion of service for the most in need.  This is why the priest is known as the servant of the people of God, and the pope is known as the Servant of the Servants of the People of God.  Power comes from the lowering of oneself to service.

But this idea is not simply tied to the reality of the ordained priesthood.  For we all are called to be a priestly people; a people who offer their lives as a sacrifice for the sanctity of the world.  The laity are especially called to sanctify the world in a special way that priests are unable to.  The power that is given by Jesus Christ in order to do this is tied to service as well.  How do we sanctify the world- precisely through service to the people of God.  We are called to lay down our lives as shepherds in order to bring the ruling power of God to the world.

This Lenten season we often focus on what we have given up as a penance instead of focusing on what we give as alms.  What do we give in service to those least among us?  Do we give our time?  Do we give our talent?  Do we give our treasure?  Do we give all three?  We are supposed to, but we often don’t.  But if we don’t give of ourselves in service, we break the icon that is the image of the servant king, the shepherd king and rather present an image of a king as the world sees a king- with worldly power.  This is a false image of what we are supposed to portray.  For as this same reading reminds us “not as man sees does God see”.  It is our job to make real in the world the Kingdom of God; a kingdom in which power is tied not to strength or wealth, but in which power is tied to service.

At this approximately half way point of Lent, it is a good time to check in on how we are doing in all three things of Lent- prayer, penance, and almsgiving and this reading for the Fourth Sunday of Lent helps us look especially at almsgiving.  Are we really giving of ourselves in order to show the world God’s notion of power, or are we showing the world more of what it already thinks- that service is not power, that a king is not called to serve?  Let us recommit ourselves to showing the world that Jesus Christ is a different kind of king, a king who we try to imitate.  

How is your Lent going at the half-way point? Leave a comment below!