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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider The shepherd of the sheep

The shepherd of the sheep

Published Apr 22, 2024 12:11 am

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Gird your loins

In rocky Palestine and its neighboring countries where Jesus lived and preached, shepherds hold three things dearly: water, their tents, and their sheep. The shepherd not only guides the sheep, he is almost a “father” to the flock. He gives a name to each one; he allows them to sleep close to him and to drink from his kettle of water.

Jesus draws a picture from the shepherd’s life to illustrate a lesson about his relationship with his disciples: a relationship of intimacy, of service, and of offering. Jesus “knows his sheep”; he is related with his disciples in an intimate love. They, in turn, “hear his voice,” listen to and obey his commandments as their personal response to him.

No one snatches the believers away from Jesus. Because this union of Jesus and his disciples is willed and caused by the Father, no power, no evil, no suffering can break the bond between them. St. Paul puts it emphatically, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities... nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).

 

Gospel • John 10:1-10

Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. 

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.

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