The 4th Sunday of Easter has been nicknamed “Good Shepherd Sunday,” due to the Gospel reading about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Before Vatican II, Good Shepherd Sunday used to fall on the 3rd Sunday of Easter, until the Church decided to push it back by a week, so that we could hear more about Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, such as the one on the road to Emmaus last Sunday. Doesn’t that just make you glad that the Church revised the Lectionary that way? I mean, who doesn’t love hearing about the risen Christ appearing to the disheartened disciples on the road to Emmaus, right?
This Sunday, as you might expect, the Responsorial Psalm is the very well-known Psalm 23. If one were to ask me, “could you guys sing The Lord is My Shepherd?”, my first thought would be, “umm, which one?” ‘Tis a text that has been put to music in so many ways by so many composers from so many different times and places. If you’re a regular at the 11:00 AM Mass, you may have heard our Adult Choir sing the setting by Thomas Matthews. In terms of settings which are in our hymnal, the most familiar one is Marty Haugen’s Shepherd Me, O God. There’s also The King of Love My Shepherd Is and Christopher Walker’s Because the Lord is My Shepherd, both inspired by Psalm 23.
As far as more modern settings go, I recently encountered this moving song entitled Still Waters by Christian artist Leanna Crawford, based on Psalm 23. In addition to it’s beautiful, soaring refrain, I was drawn to it by a particular lyric that goes, “Write Scripture on your heart for when you need it, ‘cause anxiety hates Psalm 23…” If you’d like to hear this song, our Worship Band’s very own Emmeline Fritz will be singing it at the 5:00 PM Mass this Sunday.
With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director
