THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

READINGS: FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

On this 4th Sunday of Lent, our Responsorial Psalm is taken from Psalm 23, one of the most beloved passages in Scripture because it is a quiet confession of trust in a God who walks with us in every season—guiding, restoring, defending, and nourishing us in ways we often recognize only in hindsight. The truth is that life can, in many ways, feel uncertain, demanding, and at times frightening. We walk through seasons of loss, pressure, confusion, and waiting. Yet, in these situations, there is a God who shepherds us personally, who leads, feeds, restores, and stays close.

The power of a shepherd is that he knows the path, provides what is needed, and watches over his sheep with tenderness and strength. Even “the dark valley”, where visibility is low and fear is loud, is not empty of God’s presence. His protection and direction are never out of reach, which means that where God leads, there is enough, and we do not have to manufacture our own peace or force our own way forward. The Psalm, therefore, invites us to rest more deeply in God’s care, to surrender our anxieties, to believe that mercy is not behind us but pursuing us, and that with God, we are guided, guarded, and never abandoned. Notice that the Psalm does not promise a life without danger, confusion, or loss. Instead, it invites us to breathe, to release our tight grip on control, and to trust that the Shepherd who knows our name also knows the way. So, under his care, we are never abandoned, never unseen, and never without hope.

The Psalmist then makes a surprising turn: that God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies—there is grace right in the middle of the tension and uncertainty. What this means is that goodness and mercy do not trail behind us, but rather follow and pursue us, refusing to let our story end in scarcity or fear.

This is truly a psalm for us to read daily, especially when life seems uncertain and we feel highly endangered.