Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 10, 11-18
‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason 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 of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’
Taking care of others
1) Give your life: this is shepherding, giving your life. Giving your life for the sheep. This is what that shepherdess mother does, that shepherd father, that priest, that nun. Giving your life … Giving your life is not just the heroic act of going to war or dying during a bombing raid. Giving one’s life is carrying bags early in the morning in order to feed the family. Giving life is that housewife who never rests and even becomes an octopus in order to take care of everything. Giving life is that mother who is attentive to that son or that daughter who is in full rebellion and, with her tears, tries to be close and attentive. Giving life is that man who keeps quiet about so many things so that his family does not suffer.
2) Know: Nobody loves what he does not know. It is knowing yourself in order to also know God. Today, in this time of quarantine, you are given the space to know God. Do not be afraid to know yourself and accept yourself as you are because God is in you and he wants to help you know yourself more. Do not be afraid to know yourself, so you can accept yourself and when you accept and know yourself better you can love yourself as you are.
3) A single flock: how much I dream of the unity of the Church, that we stop being divided among those of us who believe in Christ. I start to think internally and externally. Externally with our Protestant brothers, that relationship that we must continue to work on because we are one, but also within the Church, between groups and movements. When will we learn to work together? Today let us ask for unity among us.
God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And always remember, Heaven is our goal!
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