Church of the
Annunciation

The poet author of Psalm 23 invites us to pray to and imagine God as shepherd. “Even if I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil for you are at my side with your rod and staff that give me courage.” In chapter 10 of the Gospel according to John, Jesus speaks of himself as the “Good Shepherd.” This pastoral image of shepherd and sheep seems removed from our contemporary setting and yet it still resonates in our spiritual consciousness. This past week we have seen people scatter like sheep after bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston marathon and after a fire and an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas. As a father caught the fire and massive explosion on his cell phone camera in Texas, we could hear his little daughter begging: “Daddy let’s leave.” But as many scatter, first responders remove barricades to the place where the bombs exploded to help those who were hurt. Like the Good shepherd, police, nurses, doctors, emergency and fire personnel, bystanders and runners were willing to risk their lives to save others. On Wednesday, the shattered and scattered community in Boston came together in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross for an interfaith service with religious leaders and President Obama to resolve to continue the race in spite of the violence, to support those gravely injured emotionally and physically by the blasts and to commend the dead to God. We sing: “Shepherd me Oh God beyond my wants, beyond my fears from death into life.”