{"id":4336,"date":"2020-05-05T05:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T03:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=4336"},"modified":"2020-05-05T03:29:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T01:29:39","slug":"you-carried-this-rebel-on-your-shoulders-warmed-him-against-your-heart-washed-his-wounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=4336","title":{"rendered":"YOU CARRIED THIS REBEL ON YOUR SHOULDERS, WARMED HIM AGAINST YOUR HEART, WASHED HIS WOUNDS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>\u201cThe sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><strong><em>I give them eternal life; they will never be lost<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> (John 10:27-28)<\/p>\n<p>The Shepherd has two credentials: his intimacy with his sheep (he knows them and they know him) and his total dedication of proving his unconditional love by laying down his life to protect them.<\/p>\n<p>To \u201cknow\u201d in today\u2019s Gospel (<strong>John 10:22-30)<\/strong> refers to a deep mutual relationship which is built on personal contact and the experience of communion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>I have loved\u00a0you with an everlasting love;\u00a0I have drawn\u00a0you with unfailing kindness<\/em>.\u201d says the prophet Jeremiah (31:3). Isaiah reminds us: \u201c<em>Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne<\/em>?\u00a0<em>Though she may forget, I will not forget you!\u201d<\/em> (49:15)<\/p>\n<p>Eugene expressed the same experience reflected on himself as having been the prodigal son:<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Picture1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4337\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Picture1-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Picture1-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Picture1-692x1024.jpg 692w, https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Picture1.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a>O my God, don\u2019t I have every reason to devote myself entirely to your service, to offer you my life and all that I am, so that all that is in me may be employed and spent for your glory? For by how many titles do I belong to you? Not only are you my Creator and Redeemer, as you are all men\u2019s, but you are my special benefactor and applied your merits in an altogether special way to me; my generous friend, you forgot all my acts of ingratitude to help me as powerfully as if I had been always faithful to you; my tender father, who carried this rebel on your shoulders, warmed him against your heart, washed his wounds<\/strong><\/em>. (XIV:95)<\/p>\n<p>Today, let us focus on that intimacy that we know and are known by the Good Shepherd. Let us make time to savor that intimacy today &#8211; proved by his not abandoning us in difficulty, but laying down his life for us. In our dark and difficult days, he sustains us and gives everything for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.\u00a0I give them eternal life; they will never be lost\u201d (John 10:27-28) The Shepherd has two credentials: his intimacy with his sheep (he knows &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=4336\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}