Good Shepherd Sunday

In the garden of Gethsemane on the night he was arrested it is recorded that Our Lord was in agony or agonia in Greek. The word agonia describes the conflict Olympians would undergo to win the Olympic games. In that garden Our Lord Jesus Christ came to be in conflict and was fighting for a victory and was a struggling combatant striving with all his might to win. This is the evidence of the scriptures of what the completely unique word agonia means. And this battle, this conflict, this struggle was against an adversary, namely the adversary himself Satan. Satan didn’t want Jesus to undergo the cross for he knew that if Jesus completed his mission he would save the world, so he did his best to convince Jesus that there was a way out. Imagine the choice Jesus faced in that garden. We are told in the scriptures that his sweat fell like drops of blood, such was his agony, the agony of the choice between life and death. One can imagine that many of us would have made the choice to live rather than die. Yet our Lord made the right choice after praying that fantastically honest prayer “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will but Yours be done.” This prayer may easily have been said by the former parish priest of Ongar, Fr. Thomas Byles on the 15thApril 1912 on the Titanic. When the Titanic started to sink we are told that Fr. Byles was offered lifeboats at least twice to save his own life. Imagine that moment when he saw a way out, this was Fr. Byles’ agonia, his agony in the garden, would he choose life or death? Fr. Byles refused twice when offered a place on a lifeboat preferring to let others be saved. Indeed eyewitnesses saw him go down to the very bottom of the ship to help those less able to get to safety. He made a choice to stay with those who had no hope of rescue, praying with them, forgiving their sins and singing hymns. Fr. Byles is an example of a heroic priest. A man who would not give up on his sheep. Jesus said “The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.” Fr. Byles did not run away but instead followed Jesus’ example of The Good Shepherd who “lays down his life for his sheep”. Our hope in the diocese of Brentwood is that Fr. Thomas Byles will one day be recognised as a saint. Please pray that his choice to save others will inspire others to lay down their lives in the priesthood. A priest in the UK will probably never have to make the same choice as Fr. Byles did but his example of selfless giving as a priest is a wonderful role model of priesthood. In Fr. Byles’ last mass he preached that the sacraments are lifeboats back to God. The priest is ordained to give these lifeboats to the people so that they may find a way back to God. In this year of Mercy these lifeboats are being offered especially to those in peril and those on the margins. It takes a special person to be a priest like Fr. Byles so if you think you are being called to the priesthood then pray that Fr. Byles will help you be generous in your response as he was, and say “not My will but Yours be done”