Jesus frees Christians from all fear because not only is he the Good Shepherd who protects his flock, but also because he has “conquered the world” and death, the papal preacher said.
People today “acutely sense their vulnerability in a violent world gone mad. What will become of the future of our planet if, despite the cries of alarm from the pope and the more responsible people in society, we continue, unbridled, to consume and pollute?” Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa told Pope Francis and members of the Roman Curia during a Lenten meditation on 8th March.
Reflecting on Jesus’ words from St. John’s Gospel-“I am the good shepherd”-Cardinal Cantalamessa said that Jesus, like a good shepherd, knows his sheep who also know him, and he lays down his life for them. A priest is like a shepherd for his parishioners, but with respect to Jesus, the supreme shepherd, a priest is also just another one of his beloved sheep, the cardinal said.
He said Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist and psychoanalyst, defined the psychiatrist as “a wounded healer,” who must know “one’s own psychological wounds in order to heal those of others and that knowing the wounds of others helps to heal one’s own.”
This insight also applies to spiritual wounds, Cardinal Cantalamessa said. “The shepherd of the church is also a ‘wounded healer,’ someone ailing who must help others heal.”
Picture: Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, gives a Lenten meditation to Pope Francis, members of the Roman Curia and Vatican employees in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, 8th March 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)