THE SHEEP IN THE HOUSE

In The Joy of the Gospel that was just published by Pope Francis, I discover without any surprise that most heresies for which I was suspected are now papal words to be spread throughout the world. Good sense wins. Unfortunately, we had to wait that the Church be on the brink of total failure so that such a miracle would take place. I can now rest in peace.        

MY LAST BLOG

It is with great joy that I have lived out that blog, but time has come to turn towards something else. For many years, I have put aside things which I feel passionately about. I always tell myself: «I will take care of those things when I am old. » I do not really know if I am old enough, but before I die, I insist on bringing myself together so as to dedicate myself to what is essential. At least, that is my wish. What is the essential?... I am still searching for it. It has shown its face here and there through my unpretentious writings, but, to be quite honest, I am still far away from it. Well, that’s it; I am now deciding to use whatever time remains to give it a bit more attention.       

I thank very sincerely those who have been with me in that venture. We will remain more united than ever, but this time more through our hearts than through writing.   As a sign of friendship, let me share with you this last article once again about shepherds and sheep… for a change!

THE SHEEP IN THE HOUSE

« When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbours…

Rather invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind…» (Luke 14: 12-13)

At the Door-of-Juella, the sheep are free like the wind and sleep peacefully in the open, behind the bushes. The yearly mild climate and the security of the place allow them to do without a sheepfold. Still, since a few days, the wolf is on the prowl. Not later than yesterday he came around and killed three sheep. He will surely come back. Wolves are like that.

            

That is why, this evening, the shepherd, his wife and their children are leaving their thatched house and having the sheep take shelter in it. But before saying good night to them and closing the door, the shepherd makes sure that one window has remained open… for the wolf…

Since the sheep are occupying the house of the shepherd, he and his family have no other choice than to occupy the place of the sheep. They crowd together in the bush behind the vegetable plot and face the evening dew under the wings of their ponchos. The grown-ups carry a gun while the younger ones carry a stick. They sleep with one eye open and the other eye looking towards the window of the house.     

The wolf is not in a hurry. Nights followed one another without anything happening and, every night, the same ritual is being repeated: the sheep take possession of the house while the shepherd and his family go lurking in the bushes.         

It is only after fourteen nights that finally something happens. A long shadow stands out among the branches and slips silently towards the house full of sheep.    

The sheep begin to move about and moan. The shadow is tense. It senses the presence of the shepherd and figures out his intentions, but the call for blood is stronger than anything else. 

A window is open. « What luck! » tells the wolf to himself. With a fast jump the wolf goes for the window, but a loud BANG pierces the silence of the night. A gunshot has gone off. The long shadow is stretched out at full length. The wolf has fallen stone dead.         

In the church, the good shepherds are like that. Once in a while they ask the brave faithful to leave the “house of God” to allow the forsaken, the poor, the marginalized and the excluded to discover that that house is also their home and that they have a right to occupy the front seats. What a feast!     

Seeing those brave people who, following the good shepherds, defend the helpless, comfort them, give them a hand for a roof, a home, work, health, dignity;  seeing them giving to the poor, to the little ones and to the rejected ones the chance of occupying their place in the church and in society, Jesus is filled with wonder. With an open-heart, he embraces them and tells:

« Happy are you! You are the living proof that the Kingdom of God is not only a dream! » 

Jesus recognizes himself in those courageous people. He sees himself in them like in a mirror, he who has spent his whole life in turning upside down the «order» of the wolves. Of course, he was killed. But he was a real good shepherd.     

We still talk about him.

                                                                                                                                                 Eloy Roy

Translated from the French by Jacques Bourdages