Christ is Risen!
“Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
When David wrote what is now, perhaps, his most famous
Psalm, the Hebrew people of that time understood this particular verse in a way
that many of us in today’s age cannot. Because the people of that era were
quite familiar with shepherds and shepherdic tactics, everyone fully understood
what a “rod” and a “staff” were, and what they were used for. They knew that a
shepherd used his staff to walk, lean on, keep his balance over rough, rocky
terrain, and to help stray sheep climb out of pits they may have stumbled into.
They also knew that a rod was used to discipline stubborn sheep who routinely
got out of line, were unruly, or who were prone to wander away from the flock
and into danger. The staff, then, became a symbol of support, while the rod
symbolized discipline and/or punishment. To a shepherd, both tools were
necessary; to a flock, both were needful and elemental to their safety and
well-being.
Although clergy are not issued a rod or staff at their
ordination, as “shepherds” of God’s flock they are given a Gospel Book and a
Cross, which can be likened to their Old Testament prototypes: the priest leans
on the Gospel for support and uses it to pull his congregation out of trouble,
while at the same time admonishing them with the Cross, disciplining them with
the image of Christ's voluntary suffering, pain, and passion.
XB!
Fr. John
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