2025 Summer Reflection
“I am the Good Shepherd (John 10.11).”
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Our Welcome Home Catholics’ logo on our home page shows Jesus holding a rescued lamb because Jesus Himself often used shepherd and sheep imagery to describe His profoundly loving relationship with us
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“I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John 10.11).”
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When we contemplate that Jesus did lay down his life for us on the Cross, we should then ask ourselves “what kind of sheep should we be for Him?” Unlike real sheep, God gives us free will to decide. Should we just follow behind Him by ourselves? Or, should we help nudge those who have strayed back into His flock? As a Louisiana bishop recently taught: “The question is not whether Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He most certainly is. The question is are we His good sheep?”
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Invite the inactive Catholics in your life to rejoin us in Jesus’s flock, not because they are forced to, but because Jesus gave His life for us to free us from sin to live forever in his infinite love. Invite them also to our Welcome Home Catholics sessions after Labor Day to help them resume full practice. These sessions include a deep dive into where we can most easily encounter our Good Shepherd, at Mass, and why the Holy Eucharist is “the source and summit of our faith.”
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See the Schedule page for a participating parish near you. If there isn't one near you, call or text us at 251 605-9710 to find out how to get started at your parish.
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Slowly sails the ship into the harbor
A safe haven, to recover at last
Battered and torn, the sails on the mast
Weathered and beaten with holes in the hull
The tired vessel makes its way to the dock
With a lopsided movement toward us all
As one with a peg leg who lilts to one side
It finds its way home with no sense of pride
The battle was won but the cost was so dear
As some lives were lost, all shed a tear
Phyllis Comeaux
12-9-23
(on retreat)
From where comes this ship? Ask the hands on the dock
Sailing the seas looking for true treasures?
Or searching the lands for worldly pleasures?
Getting distracted as they stopped to play
They found themselves lost along the way
Trying to find the way back home
They found themselves caught up in a storm
Tossed hither and yonder and turned around
‘Til they heard the call home, heeding the sound
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Thus, the wayward Christian finds a way home
After darting off without a look back
Going after distractions that got him off track
Content and enjoying himself for a while
He finds he is missing home in this trial
And turns to see no one to help find the way
So he drops to his knees to fervently pray
And in the dark and stillness of night
He hears the call that changes his plight
Come Home to me and I will hold you tight
FOREVER – was the word that set him right