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Description
Christ the Good Shepherd
©Cecilia Lawrence
September 11th, 2019
8x10 inches
Ink, watercolor, gold leaf

"I am the Good Shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the Good Shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd."
~ John 10:11-16

"The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am His,
and He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul He leadeth;
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed,
but yet in love He sought me;
and on His shoulder gently laid,
and home, rejoicing, brought me."
~ from The King of Love my Shepherd is

This image of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd was made as a (late) wedding gift for a friend. In this icon, Christ has a shepherd's crook and carries a lamb on His shoulder, referencing the parable of the good shepherd from Luke 15, where He says: “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance." I have added the additional imagery of the Sacred Heart (symbolizing the love of God) which is the fount and spring of His love for His sheep. The Sacred Heart is depicted with the crown of thorns around it (symbolizing His sufferings) with white hot flames pouring from the top, crowned by a small cross. The gaping wound of His Heart (pierced by the lance while on the Cross) also reveals the white-hot furnace of love, from which the rays of Divine Mercy pour. In the Divine Mercy image, as Christ said to St. Faustina: "the two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross." (Diary 299) The words "I AM" are written in His halo, signifying His Divinity, referencing the words spoken by God to Moses when He revealed His Name as "I AM." (Exodus 3:14) The "IC XC" is the traditional Greek abbreviation of "Jesus Christ" (ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ). The titlos above which indicate a sacred name I have turned into a decorative alpha and omega, as a reference to Revelations 22:13: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

"Where are you pasturing your flock, O good Shepherd, who carry the whole flock on your shoulders? (For the whole of human nature is one sheep and you have lifted it onto your shoulders). Show me the place of peace, lead me to the good grass that will nourish me, call me by name so that I, your sheep, hear your voice, and by your speech give me eternal life. Answer me, you whom my soul loves.

I give you the name ‘you whom my soul loves’ because your name is above every name and above all understanding and there is no rational nature that can utter it or comprehend it. Therefore your name, by which your goodness is known, is simply the love my soul has for you. How could I not love you, when you loved me so much, even though I was black, that you laid down your life for the sheep of your flock? A greater love cannot be imagined, than exchanging your life for my salvation.

Show me then (my soul says) where you pasture your flock, so that I can find that saving pasture too, and fill myself with the food of heaven without which no-one can come to eternal life, and run to the spring and fill myself with the drink of God. You give it, as from a spring, to those who thirst – water pouring from your side cut open by the lance, water that, to whoever drinks it, is a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

If you lead me to pasture here, you will make me lie down at noon, sleeping at peace and taking my rest in light unstained by any shade. For the noon has no shade and the sun stands far above the mountain peaks. You bring your flock to lie in this light when you bring your children to rest with you in your bed. But no-one can be judged worthy of this noonday rest who is not a child of light and a child of the day. Whoever has separated himself equally from the shadows of evening and morning, from where evil begins and evil ends, at noon he will lie down and the sun of righteousness will shine on him.

Show me, then (my soul says), how I should sleep and how I should graze, and where the path is to my noonday rest. Do not let me fall away from your flock because of ignorance, and find myself one of a flock of sheep that are not yours.

Thus my soul spoke, when she was anxious about the beauty that God’s care had given her and wanted to know how she could keep this good fortune forever."
~ from St. Gregory of Nyssa’s Commentary on the Song of Songs

Faithful Shepherd,
You are not a hireling who runs away at the sight of danger,
but Your fidelity was tested
and proven on the wood of the Cross.
Accept the gift of our gratitude
for Your marvelous care.
Help us to hear and follow Your voice.

Watchful Shepherd,
who protects the flock
and searches tirelessly
for those who wander from the fold,
retrieve the lost and bring them home.
Tend and heal their wounds.

Good Shepherd,
who lays down His Life for His sheep,
nourish Your people with the Bread of Life,
that we may reflect Your likeness
and enjoy the spring of Living Water that never ends. Amen.

Description
Christ the Good Shepherd
©Cecilia Lawrence
September 11th, 2019
8x10 inches
Ink, watercolor, gold leaf

"I am the Good Shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the Good Shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd."
~ John 10:11-16

"The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am His,
and He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul He leadeth;
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed,
but yet in love He sought me;
and on His shoulder gently laid,
and home, rejoicing, brought me."
~ from The King of Love my Shepherd is

This image of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd was made as a (late) wedding gift for a friend. In this icon, Christ has a shepherd's crook and carries a lamb on His shoulder, referencing the parable of the good shepherd from Luke 15, where He says: “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance." I have added the additional imagery of the Sacred Heart (symbolizing the love of God) which is the fount and spring of His love for His sheep. The Sacred Heart is depicted with the crown of thorns around it (symbolizing His sufferings) with white hot flames pouring from the top, crowned by a small cross. The gaping wound of His Heart (pierced by the lance while on the Cross) also reveals the white-hot furnace of love, from which the rays of Divine Mercy pour. In the Divine Mercy image, as Christ said to St. Faustina: "the two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross." (Diary 299) The words "I AM" are written in His halo, signifying His Divinity, referencing the words spoken by God to Moses when He revealed His Name as "I AM." (Exodus 3:14) The "IC XC" is the traditional Greek abbreviation of "Jesus Christ" (ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ). The titlos above which indicate a sacred name I have turned into a decorative alpha and omega, as a reference to Revelations 22:13: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

"Where are you pasturing your flock, O good Shepherd, who carry the whole flock on your shoulders? (For the whole of human nature is one sheep and you have lifted it onto your shoulders). Show me the place of peace, lead me to the good grass that will nourish me, call me by name so that I, your sheep, hear your voice, and by your speech give me eternal life. Answer me, you whom my soul loves.

I give you the name ‘you whom my soul loves’ because your name is above every name and above all understanding and there is no rational nature that can utter it or comprehend it. Therefore your name, by which your goodness is known, is simply the love my soul has for you. How could I not love you, when you loved me so much, even though I was black, that you laid down your life for the sheep of your flock? A greater love cannot be imagined, than exchanging your life for my salvation.

Show me then (my soul says) where you pasture your flock, so that I can find that saving pasture too, and fill myself with the food of heaven without which no-one can come to eternal life, and run to the spring and fill myself with the drink of God. You give it, as from a spring, to those who thirst – water pouring from your side cut open by the lance, water that, to whoever drinks it, is a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

If you lead me to pasture here, you will make me lie down at noon, sleeping at peace and taking my rest in light unstained by any shade. For the noon has no shade and the sun stands far above the mountain peaks. You bring your flock to lie in this light when you bring your children to rest with you in your bed. But no-one can be judged worthy of this noonday rest who is not a child of light and a child of the day. Whoever has separated himself equally from the shadows of evening and morning, from where evil begins and evil ends, at noon he will lie down and the sun of righteousness will shine on him.

Show me, then (my soul says), how I should sleep and how I should graze, and where the path is to my noonday rest. Do not let me fall away from your flock because of ignorance, and find myself one of a flock of sheep that are not yours.

Thus my soul spoke, when she was anxious about the beauty that God’s care had given her and wanted to know how she could keep this good fortune forever."
~ from St. Gregory of Nyssa’s Commentary on the Song of Songs

Faithful Shepherd,
You are not a hireling who runs away at the sight of danger,
but Your fidelity was tested
and proven on the wood of the Cross.
Accept the gift of our gratitude
for Your marvelous care.
Help us to hear and follow Your voice.

Watchful Shepherd,
who protects the flock
and searches tirelessly
for those who wander from the fold,
retrieve the lost and bring them home.
Tend and heal their wounds.

Good Shepherd,
who lays down His Life for His sheep,
nourish Your people with the Bread of Life,
that we may reflect Your likeness
and enjoy the spring of Living Water that never ends. Amen.