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I want to begin by thanking Pastor Deena Galanotwicz for filling in for me these past two Sundays … I have heard many good things happening while I was gone. 
 
As many of you know, I was away attending a clergy conference in North Carolina.  The conference … called CREDO … is sponsored by the Episcopal Church’s Pension Fund, and is a self-reflective retreat for priests.  The process is to assess your own personal core values, then evaluate where one needs to re-align their life to those core values.  In looks at this in the areas of health … physical, mental, and spiritual health … personal finances, and vocational goals.  It is a very intensive conference/retreat with plenary sessions, workshops, small groups, one-on-one consultations, and significant introspective time.  

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​Sometimes Fr. Ted and I have a chuckle about who gets the tough Scripture Readings to preach about, but I have to say that I lucked out this time because today’s Gospel is a favorite of mine and very challenging.  It does start off kind of startling though- because it is the scene of the Last Supper and we are at that terrible moment when Judas has arisen from the table and slipped out of the Upper Room.  The circle of the twelve is broken, and the stage is set for dreadful events.  The emotions and thoughts of Jesus must have become extremely intense at this moment, for he immediately says, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.”  In my own searching for what it means to give Glory to God in MY living, our Lord now offers very clear direction.  Saying that it is clear does not say it is easy.   But, there are times by the grace of God, we are enabled to do or say something that does give Glory to God. 

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​Today is often known as Good Shepherd Sunday because of the theme set by the opening Collect, the 23rd Psalm, the words from our second Lesson from Revelation, and the Gospel.  I have often said that if anyone wants to let their thoughts wander during our worship service, they should wait until AFTER the Opening Collect, because that is THE Prayer that sets the entire theme for the day’s Scripture readings, the hymns and the sermon so that they are all of a piece.    So…it is pretty important.  By the way: the word COLLECT… which looks like collect… is a word that means a COLLECTION and indeed, it IS a collection of the bits and pieces that provide the theme for our worship.   So…hear again today’s opening COLLECT:  “Oh God, whose son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice, we know him who calls us each by name, and follows where he leads, …” /// It’s interesting to me that most of us have probably carried into adult life our childhood pictures of Jesus as the tender shepherd…//.and that’s fine.    But… shepherds are also a tough breed; they have to be.  First century shepherds were strong and robust.  They could nurse a tiny lamb back to health, … but they also could fight off anyone or anything that threatened their flock.  When the shepherd boy, David, declared that he was ready to fight the giant Goliath, he proclaimed his fitness by telling Saul that “whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, he went after it and struck it down.”  In the same fashion, shepherds had to defend their flocks against thieves and hoodlums, and even sometimes from small armies who wanted meat for the troops. This was not a job for timid souls.  

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Many of you know this, but for those who don’t, and those who need a reminder … The Episcopal Church in the United States is part of the Anglican Communion.  The Anglican Communion is made up of all those Churches that are descended from the Church of England.  When England was a colonial power the Church of England spread around the world.  The figurehead of the Anglican Communion is the Archbishop of Canterbury … presently that is Justin Welby.