Acts 11 : 1-18,
Psalm 42:2-3; 43 :3.4,
John 10: 1- 10 Full Readings
Jesus the Good Shepherd
Brethren, for three consecutive days of this week, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, we shall be reading from the Gospel of John 10, which presents Jesus as a Good Shepherd. Today’s Gospel reading points it out very clearly that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the shepherd who enters through the gate, who calls and knows the sheep by name, he calls them and they hear him and a shepherd who leads them to the green pastures and restful waters, where himself is the gate. With these, they gain life and have it in abundance. But what does the Shepherd mean? Shepherd means one who rears or takes care of the Sheep. It can also be used synonymously with a Pastor. Jesus being Good Shepherd means we are his people: The Sheep of his flock and he is always taking care of us.
The Good Shepherd enters through the gate and the gate keeper lets him in. Who is this gatekeeper? St Augustine calls this gatekeeper the Holy Spirit whose role is to open our minds to the truths, to deeper understanding of the scripture and to understand Christ himself as a Good Shepherd. With the Holy Spirit as our helper, we shall be good sheep of Jesus' flock. Jesus says that whoever doesn't enter through the right gate is a thief, and in our world today thieves who want to ruin our lives are many led by Satan. If we are not able to discern who a Good Shepherd is, then we are at risk of being led astray. We can only take away this risk when we surrender our lives to be led by the Spirit so that we discern the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd knows his sheep by name and he calls each one individually. Knowing someone by name implies that there is a relationship between the two. Brethren, Jesus knows each one of us by name, and is always calling us to come to him, to give us life and feed us with everlasting food and drink. He takes initiative to know our names and so calls us into a relationship with him, and he is always waiting for us to respond to his call.
Since we are known individually by name, it is an invitation for us to respond when called. We strengthen the relationship when we respond. But are we able to recognize the voice of Jesus which calls us? Again, this is the work of the Holy Spirit to make us discern that voice. We are then invited to hear and listen to that voice and heed to it. This requires the gift of faith to respond to him. It is this faith that leads us to do what he calls us to do.
Jesus calls us to different vocations, like priests, religious, married men and women, celibate life, doctors, nurses, teachers, politicians, office holders and many other calls in this world. What we need is to respond to his call and live our vocation guided by love and service to both God and humanity. To live our vocation well we have to surrender ourselves to be led by Jesus himself for he is the way, the truth and life.
Jesus as a Good Shepherd will lead us to greener pastures and restful waters where we gain life and where himself is the gate to that life. Unlike other shepherds who go behind the Sheep, he will lead us and we will follow, and he gives his life for us, his sheep even accepting to die. He died on the cross for our salvation and rose so that we may have life and be saved as we see in the first Reading. The second reading also clearly points out that through him, we shall become like God at the end of time, if only he is our shepherd and leader. Brethren, what we need is to cooperate with Jesus and believe in him as he leads us to his Father where we shall enjoy eternal life. We are sure that in whatever way and situation, he will always protect us if we stick to Him.
Reflect today on your vocation. Is Jesus your Shepherd who guides you as you live your vocation? Do you listen to the Voice of Christ which calls you always by name? Do you respond to it appropriately? Are you also a good shepherd like Jesus to the people you are entrusted to or a wolf? Where do you lead the people under your care? Spend time in silence to reflect on these and more questions that come along.
Let us pray
For the gift of Spirit that our minds will be open to understand Jesus as our Good Shepherd and to always allow him to lead us for he will never lead us astray. Let us pray that we may live our vocations faithfully and that vocations in the church may increase. May we be blessed forever. Amen.
Be blessed
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