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1 Peter 5:5-15
Beloved:
Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one another, for:
God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.
So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.
Be sober and vigilant.
Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in faith,
knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world
undergo the same sufferings.
The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.
To him be dominion forever. Amen.
I write you this briefly through Silvanus,
whom I consider a faithful brother,
exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.
Remain firm in it.
The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son.
Greet one another with a loving kiss.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
The Word of the Lord.
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Some years ago, a story went viral about a lost sheep named Shrek.
Shrek lived an otherwise ordinary life until he became separated from his shepherd. For six long years, he wandered the hills of New Zealand alone, often resting at night in cold, rocky caves.
Without his shepherd to shear his wool, Shrek’s coat ballooned to sixty pounds, six times the average weight a sheep normally carries. That’s enough wool to make 20 adult suits!
After he was found, it took Shrek’s shepherd about 20 minutes to shear all of that excess wool. Imagine that – six years of weight lifted in a matter of minutes.
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There’s something arrestingly human about that.
Like Shrek, how often do we carry around unnecessary weight?
We hide our emotions, bottle them up, push them down. We can lug around years of unnecessary guilt, anxiety, grief, or fear. As a result, we end up carrying five or six times the weight we actually need to.
Why not just let it go?
“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,” Peter says in our first reading.
“Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you… Resist the devil, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.”
In that sense, every human being is the same. We all need a shepherd – we need Jesus – to shear whatever weighs us down.
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This is particularly true in confession, when the Lord not only forgives – but also forgets – our sins.
Today allow our Shepherd to do what he does best – feed, defend, and shear his sheep.
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Image credits: (1) United Faith Church (2) Babur (3) Business Insider