4-May-20

Gospel JN 10:11-18

Jesus said:
“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.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”

Reflection

“Jesus said:
“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.”

As a child in the 1940’s, I was taught to think of the priest as the shepherd and myself as one of the sheep of the flock; it was a view easily accepted by a child. It led me to feel that I only needed to follow along, to do and believe as I was told.

Sadly, many people hold onto that view their entire life.

Saint Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Corinthians 13:11).

As an adult, I have explored my faith and gained a more mature
view of what it means to be a Christian. I have come to realize
that as Christians we are called to be both sheep (follower) and shepherd (leader).

Every day as we walk with Jesus, our shepherd, we can learn through His example how we can lead others to Christ through love and service.

“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.”

Just as we know Jesus through His words and actions, God knows us in the same way through what we say and do as we become the person He wants us to be.

Jesus does not expect perfection. He only calls us to strive to do our best: to be compassionate rather than hard hearted, to find something good to say rather than to gossip, to be generous rather than selfish, to be forgiving rather than judgmental.

Jesus simply wants us to draw closer to Him and to be a “Good Shepherd” to all those we meet.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13: 35