By Sr. Benedicta Hawkins, M.S.
Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln
Everyone has a “go-to” bible passage, the one that, no matter what, stirs inside of you. A place where Jesus always shows up, always invites you deeper, always lets you experience His love.
For me, this passage is John 10: 10-18, which is always read in some length on the 4th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday. The day the church prays in a special way for vocations.
The parable of the Good Shepherd and my response to my religious vocation are tightly connected, inseparable really. When I think of my life of prayer, I consider two timeframes: the time before I knew the love and gentle invitation of the Good Shepherd, and the time after I knew that I indeed was the lost sheep He came to find.
I experienced this love and gentle invitation in a profound way when I was a sophomore in college. Looking back, it was the guidance of the Good Shepherd that led me to Benedictine College and the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program (CGS).
While studying at Benedictine, I became involved with different groups, but the one with the longest lasting impact was CGS. CGS is a Montessori-based method of religious education that is the result of Sofia Cavaletti’s own prayer and experience giving religious education to the son of her friend. When Cavaletti’s friend approached her and asked her to prepare her 7-year-old for his first Communion, Cavaletti refused, saying she knew nothing about children. The mother insisted and Cavaletti finally agreed.
Through the time with the 7-year old, Sofia Cavaletti’s whole life was changed. She experienced the deep capacity a child has for a relationship with God, the complete innocence and joy with which he or she approaches the Good Shepherd, Who, over time, becomes the child’s best friend, his or her greatest confidant, the one who calls the child to love as He loves.
When I first stepped into the atrium—the area where children do their CGS work—I was intrigued. I had spent time with young children before, and I had never seen 10 3- to 6-year-olds work so diligently. Over the course of that first semester, I was privileged to hear their prayers, witness their growing relationship with the Good Shepherd, and see the seriousness that overcame them as they worked throughout their class.
Their relationship with the Good Shepherd was one of joy, docility, and of most importance in their life. The children I was accompanying had something I wanted, something I desired, and something I had no idea how to attain.
Finally, a day came when I, too, experienced the gentle yet captivating voice of the Good Shepherd. A child was working with the Found Sheep (Luke 15) , and he asked me to come over and read him the Scripture booklet. Over the semester I had read these words many times. However, this time, the words and the child’s response pinged my heart in a way they never had before.
As I was reading, the words, “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing” struck me. The Good Shepherd rejoices when He finds His sheep—a joy I wanted to experience. The child responded, “He asks the sheep, do you want to come with me?” This granted me a freedom I had never experienced in my pursuit of the Good Shepherd. What I thought was a life of demanding rules and a God who didn’t know me was actually an invitation to a life of joy and a shepherd who knows me by name.
