The Handsome Shepherd

If we want to represent Jesus' lifestyle with an image, we have no difficulty finding it: Jesus himself offers it to us, speaking of himself as the Good Shepherd, the one who—he says—"lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11). This is Jesus. Indeed, being a shepherd wasn't just a job, requiring time and much commitment; it was a true way of life: twenty-four hours a day, living with the flock, accompanying it to pasture, sleeping among the sheep, caring for the weakest. Jesus, in other words, doesn't do something for us, but gives everything, gives his life for us. His is a pastoral heart (cf. Ezek 34:15). He is a shepherd with all of us.

(Pope Francis, General Audience in Paul VI Hall, January 18, 2023)

With joy and gratitude, we share the publication, in August, of a text entitled "The Beautiful Shepherd."

Rosalba Manes and Silouane Ponga, who edited the volume, describe it in the Introduction as "a miscellany created in honor of Sister Elena Bosetti for her 75th birthday; a collaborative work, written by many, inspired above all by the desire to demonstrate the affection and gratitude for the biblical work that Sister Elena gave to the Church, both through her academic teaching and through the biblical pastoral work carried out in the various centers to which she was invited and in her community, the Congregation of the Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd-Pastorelle."