My family and I keep a small flock of heritage sheep in the pasture behind our home. They are a primitive domestic breed from Scotland called Soay. We chose this particular breed of sheep because they are very low maintenance. Self-sufficiency runs in their Scottish blood. They generally take care of themselves, which suits our particular style of shepherding just fine.
But low maintenance doesn’t mean no maintenance. We do have to work with them on occasion, and to do so we gather them into an enclosure called a sheepfold.
There are two ways to do this: You can push them or you can lead them.
Pushing the sheep into the fold works by taking advantage of the sheep’s natural wariness. They are a prey species and naturally move away from anything they perceive as a predator. This is how sheepdogs work, moving the flock wherever the shepherd wants them to go. We have no need for sheepdogs on our tiny pasture, but you can use people to the same effect. You approach them from behind, they perceive you as a threat and move away from you. By limiting their options (with fencing, or by positioning other people) you can get them to where you want them to go. It’s effective, but it can be stressful for the sheep. You have to be very calm and patient when you move sheep this way, or it puts them into “flight” mode and makes them very difficult to work with once you have them in the fold.
A much better method is to lead them. This is only an option if you are someone the sheep know and trust. While our sheep feed primarily on grass (we got them to be living lawn mowers), we do supplement their diet with feed pellets. I give them a couple of scoops every morning, and I always feed them in their sheepfold. It doesn’t take them long to learn the routine. Now, whenever they see me walking toward the sheepfold, they eagerly line up behind me and follow me in. This is a much better way of getting the sheep to where I want them to be – less stressful for the sheep and shepherd alike. But it only works because they know and trust me.
In our pilgrim journey on this earth, God is leading us somewhere. The 23rd Psalm describes our heavenly destination as “verdant pastures” and “restful waters.” But we have to pass through the dark valley to get there. That’s the part we don’t like, so we resist it.
When we discover in our heart desires that are opposed to God’s will, we may sometimes wonder why God doesn’t just use His omnipotence to make us better people. This can be especially true if we struggle with habitual sin or feel that we aren’t devout or pious enough. We know what we are supposed to do, but we lack the will to do it. Like St. Paul, we may delight in the law of God but find in ourselves another principle – at war with our mind – that keeps us captive to sin (Rom 7:23). We imagine it would be so much easier if God would force us to be holy.
Our loving God doesn’t want to push us into heaven, like a tyrant. He wants to lead us there, like a shepherd. “He walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice” (Jn 10:4).
This is the better way. But it only works if the sheep know and trust the shepherd. How do we, the members of His flock, come to know our Good Shepherd? By spending time with Him, in prayer and Adoration. We learn to recognize His voice by reading the scriptures. We come to recognize His countenance by contemplating the mystery of His life. You cannot know Christ your Shepherd unless you spend time with Him.
Knowing Jesus is one thing. Trusting Him is another. It takes not just knowledge but trust to follow our shepherd through the dark valleys of life. The darkness is scary, and we naturally flee from it. We will only follow someone we trust to care for us. How does Jesus gain our trust? The same way I gained the trust of my little flock. He feeds us.
Before Jesus introduced His most difficult teaching on the Eucharist, he first fed the multitudes with a few loaves and fish. He showed them that He could provide miraculous food for them to satisfy their bellies (Jn 6:1-15). And when they came back looking for more, He promised them food that would satisfy their hearts. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).
God holds nothing back from us. He provides all that we need. May we never fail to trust in our Good Shepherd, who feeds us with His own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, to lead us to peaceful pastures of repose. With such a shepherd as our guide through the dark valleys of this world, what more could we possibly want?
Deacon Matthew Newsome is the Catholic campus minister at Western Carolina University and the regional faith formation coordinator for the Smoky Mountain Vicariate.