THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

John 10:1-10

According to the liturgical tradition, every Fourth Sunday of Easter is called the Good Shepherd Sunday and the biblical readings on this Sunday present to us this image of the shepherd. The last Sundays we have been looking at the texts that tell us Jesus has risen. We have seen him appear to doubting Thomas. We have seen him appear to the disciples as they made their way to Emmaus. The last Sundays, we have seen that Jesus has indeed risen. We have seen that the promise he made that in three days he would rise had come true. The physical fact of the resurrection has been demonstrate very clearly these last Sundays.

            So today we take a step further. We see how the risen Lord affects our lives. In today's text, we see the consequences of the resurrection. In the first reading we hear Peter proclaiming that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. And that all have to repent and be baptized. And in the gospel we hear that the risen Lord is the Good shepherd who came so that we may have life and have it abundantly. The resurrection of the Lord affects our lives. We are called to repent so that we may have life. We are called to be part of the flock of the good shepherd.

            To communicate to us what resurrection calls us to be, Jesus uses the image of the shepherd and the sheep. The word of Jesus concerning the relation between the Shepherd and the sheep belongs to a true and proper debate between Jesus and the Jews. The Jews asked Jesus a clear question about his identity: “If you are the Christ, tell us the plain truth”. In response Jesus calls himself the shepherd, and the gate, that his sheep hear his voice, he leads the sheep out for good pasture, the sheep follow him as they recognize his voice. This is very a deep statement for Jews because the title “shepherd” in the Hebrew Bible refers primarily to God who shepherds His people. This is brought out in our responsorial Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want.” God is portrayed as a faithful and good shepherd who leads the flock into well-being and abundance.

By calling himself shepherd and gate, Jesus speaks of the tremendous union he has with God his Father and the tremendous union we are called to have with him. Calling himself a shepherd and gate, Jesus calls us to enter into a relationship with him and to recognize him as our shepherd. This reminds me of a guy who had his own psalm 23. And this is his psalm:

The TV is my shepherd I shall not want,

 It makes me lie down on the sofa set.

 It leads me away from the faith,

 It destroys my soul.

 It leads me to the path of promiscuity and violence for the advertiser’s sake.

 Even though I walk in the shadow of Christian responsibilities,

 There will be no interruption, for the TV is with me.

 Its cable and remote control, they comfort me

 It prepares a commercial for me in the midst of many Christian requirements

 And anoints my head with secular humanism and consumerism.

 My greed runs over;

 Surely ignorance and laziness shall follow me all the days of my life,

 And I shall dwell in the house of wretchedness watching TV forever.

Maybe for us it is not the TV, it is something else. Each one of us has his own world where he get lost and forget his Christian life. The Lord wants us to be part of his flock. He calls us to be his sheep. We are reminded once again that if we want to share in the joy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we must be able to always listen to the voice of God our shepherd. Jesus tells us today that my sheep hear my voice. So the question is: How do we hear the voice of God? What attention do I give to the voice of God? And how does this voice affect my life? Does the word of God have an impact on our life? How do we find ourselves in the words of Jesus when he says: My sheep hear my voice? Are we part of those sheep? We are also reminded that we are shepherds to each other. How do we fulfil our vocation as parents, teachers, guides, friends, pastors and leaders in the church community? Are we good shepherd?