Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 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.”
The Good Shepherd
1) Belonging: If you see sheep in the field, you will notice that when a lamb is born, the first thing you need to do is cover it with the shepherd’s blanket or cloak, so that when the lamb quickly develops the sense of smell, the first thing it senses is the smell of its Shepherd. How nice it is to see that when we are born, God embraces us through our baptism so we discover that we are His; we belong to Him.
2) Hunting: when a wolf goes hunting the first thing it does is chase the sheep in order to scare them. The sheep all run and run, because they are always together. However, he follows them until he sees that one of the sheep falls behind or gets separated from the group. Then he starts chasing the one who is apart from the rest. The wolf is cunning and knows that if the sheep is left alone it will be afraid, and when it is afraid, it’s legs tremble and get tense. They are “frozen” by their fear of the wolf. They get stiff and it is no longer necessary to run after them because they have already surrendered. The same happens to us with the devil…. he is cunning. He tempts everyone, but temptation is stronger for those who are left behind …those weak in their faith, those who don’t pray anymore, and who are not living in the presence of Jesus… a person that doesn’t live in communion with other faithful people , or who doesn’t go to church anymore becomes weak. The devil makes him afraid and makes him turn into a hard and isolated person . A person who is very afraid… who can’t find his way in life… That is why we need the Good Shepherd.
3) The good Shepherd: The shepherd goes out in search for the sheep. He doesn’t wait for them, he goes looking for them. So, when He finds them stiff or frozen because of their fear, the first thing He does is puts them up on his shoulders. Then when the wolf sees the shepherd, he runs away; he escapes, because the wolf attacks the weak and defenseless, but does he does not dare stand up before the shepherd. The Good Shepherd carries the sheep on his shoulders because it is tense, stiff, frozen by fear and cannot walk.
Then, while the Shepherd is carrying it, the sheep smells the familiar aroma and calms down. Recognizing that familiar smell calms and relieves the sheep and helps it to stabilize again. This is how it happens in our lives; when you feel God coming into your life He gives you peace and the relief that only He can give. He helps you to go out and walk again. He returns you to the flock; to the church, because it is in your church community where you can find peace and support in order to continue walking without fear. We as a community and as a flock, must lovingly welcome the sheep that Jesus brings back. Today you can be a good Shepherd in your daily life. Remember, that today we pray for priestly and religious vocations.
Pray that there will be many priests and consecrated people who have the Heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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