“In the midst of life we are in death: dust we are, and to dust we shall return. There we remain unless there is an intervention from beyond this world order. Only a Power greater than that of Death can countermand that strict arrest.”

And, so, the psalmist cries out, “The Lord is my shepherd.” In other words, the One who created the universe from nothing, the one who called into existence everything that is, the one who has no rival and is never anxious or nervous, He is the one who looks after me, who cares for me, who leads me to nourishment, who protects and fights for me. It’s as though the psalmist is inviting us to ask ourselves to whom or to what we look for nourishment, care, and protection. We are, I believe, being asked to consider who our shepherd is?

What are we to make of this? This Gospel reminds us of the shocking, scandalous truth that far more than we desire God, God desires us! Not out of need, not out of lack, not because He doesn’t know what to do now that football is over and March Madness hasn’t started yet. Because He is Love. This wasn’t just true for that woman. It’s true for you and for me. God, the Creator of the universe, desires you! That’s why He created you. That’s why He became a man for you. That’s why He went to the cross for you. That’s why He gives Himself to you and me in the Eucharist. And on and on. How desperately most of us need to know this. Not intellectually. Experientially. In an increasingly anxious, lonely, isolated world, most people long to know they matter, that they’re seen, that they’re loved. And here’s the reality: you are! I am!

Family. That one word is perhaps the simplest way to get our heads around why God created us. He created us to be His family, His sons and daughters, brothers and sisters all. Given that, in these initial weeks of Lent, perhaps it might especially be worth asking the Father to help us better see both ourselves and all those we encounter as He does. There are no unimportant people to God. There is no one our Father doesn’t want to know His reckless love. There is no one who is not supposed to be here. There is no one for whom God did not become a man, go to the cross, and do battle against our ancient foe. There is no one I will meet today who is not my brother or sister and His son or daughter. No one. I, for one, can easily forget that.