Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We continue this week with our series Face 2 Face. The gospel of the Good Shepherd (John 10: 1-10) and the other readings help us a lot. This gospel follows Jesus’ cure of the man born blind and is aimed at the Pharisees who remain willfully blind to this miracle as we often do to the wonders God works in our lives.
The image of a shepherd king in Israel and in the East is deeply rooted. From these shepherds will come the Messiah and Savior. God will take these shepherds from their flock where they ill treat and take advantage of the people and he himself will be their shepherd. He will be another David for them. A disaster is in store for those shepherds who have only fed and dressed themselves and left the sheep scattered. It is a very applicable lesson for today, unfortunately. Yahweh will watch over the injured and will make the sick strong. “I shall be their shepherd,” he says, and “I come to give them life, in abundance.”
By saying “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus is saying, “I am the Messiah.” I know mine and they know me. The son of a carpenter is claiming to be God, no wonder why the religious leaders want to kill him. And the people see in him someone who is truly their shepherd.
A shepherd knows his sheep and even sleeps at the door of the fold so he is the first one to know if a sheep is trying to leave or a bandit is entering. The sheep respond to the voice of their shepherd, not the voice of a stranger. A shepherd gives his life for his sheep, feeds them and cares for them, and does not exploit them. They have a great trust in the shepherd. The shepherd smells like his sheep says Pope Francis; he knows them well.
Sheep are not a very attractive image today. Sheep are not self-sufficient, they don’t go off on their own; they blindly follow the leader and the others. They are not very smart. But the true shepherd, Jesus Christ, leads them to a better life, a true life. He provides for them and believes in them as psalm 23 says; he spreads the table before them, he anoints their head, and all shall dwell in his house. When the Lord is truly “my” shepherd then you can rest in him.
St. Peter encourages slaves in his letter (1 Peter 2: 20-25) to put up patiently with punishment even when you are doing what you supposed to do. This is what a Christian does, why? It is what Christ did. He was totally innocent and was silent during his passion. It is by his wounds that you have been healed, for you were straying like a sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your soul.
Many people have been good shepherds for you over the years and hopefully you can see in this that God loves you and always provides for you. Don’t follow other voices but the one you know!