Here's a fourth- or fifth- or sixth-hand story from Fr. Dave's homily today from a book he read (so: the priest, the woman, the author, Fr. Dave, me, you), with an implication to me:
A woman who'd drifted away from the Lord during college subsequently went to visit her sister in Colorado, who invited her to attend Sunday Mass with her. She demurred in favor a ski outing, on which she broke her leg. The following weekend, she was therefore available when her sister again invited her, where she sat near the back of the church and heard the visiting priest from Israel share this account of a practice of shepherds from his homeland that goes back for several millenia. When a lamb congenitally tends to stray off, they will break one of its legs. The shepherd then carries it - picture the lamb riding in the shepherd's folded arms across his chest - as the flock moves around the area. By the time the leg heals, the lamb has learned to trust the shepherd and the flock for its safety.
The woman with the broken leg accepted this as a clear message from God to her, and subsequently walked much closer with God through her life.
Fr. Dave question for us was whether we have experienced a brokenness that has caused us to feel that God was carrying us close, caring for us, and helping us to rely on him for what we need?
Of course I have.
So why do I still struggle to trust him?
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