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Today's selection from John's
gospel describes the shepherds of Jesus' day. Sometimes they kept their
flocks in common pens near the towns where they lived. The
shepherds would go out early in the day and call their sheep. They knew
their own shepherd’s voice and so they would follow him, out of the
safety of the pen, into pasture. Jesus makes it quite clear, the sheep
will only follow the voice of one they know.
It is important for us to recognize the voice of the Lord in our lives.
Where do we hear his voice? Christ is present in the scriptures
especially when they are proclaimed in the midst of the congregation. We
hear his voice in our personal prayer life. And we certainly come to
know him in the breaking of the bread.
Jesus also describes the way shepherds cared for their flocks out on the
range. At night they built a corral for the sheep with a small opening
or gate. The shepherd would lie across the opening, making his body the
gate. In order for the sheep to leave the protection of the corral they
must pass over the shepherd.
Jesus used this metaphor to remind us of our relationship to him in
Baptism. We are literally in the Lord. In him we live and move and have
our being. Once we were like straying sheep, now we have returned to the
protection and love of our shepherd.
This week you might consider
how often you allow yourself the opportunity to listen to the voice of
the Lord? Do you proclaim his voice to others? Are you a shepherd as
well as a sheep? |
