Throughout salvation history, the image of Jesus as Shepherd and the people who follow the Lord as the sheep of His flock, has been a revered, iconic way of reflecting on relationship. On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we reflect not only on the Good Shepherd lovingly taking care of us, His sheep, but also on how Jesus expanded our understanding of the relationship He offers to each of us.
In today’s Gospel from John, Jesus reminds us of that shepherd-sheep relationship, that as Shepherd He knows us individually. He calls us by name. And He cares for us, leading us to where we should go and going ahead of us as both example and protector.
St. Peter, in both his speech in the Acts of the Apostles and in his letter in the Second Reading, reminds us that belief in Jesus is our goal. He was crucified for us, thus He is not only our Shepherd, but the Sacrificial Lamb that takes away our sins. Those sins were us actively straying from the Good Shepherd. His saving act of death and resurrection calls us back into His flock, where we must actively listen to and follow His guiding voice.
Modern society would have us believe that being a sheep is a bad thing, following along in a group, supposedly without thinking. Modern society, of course, gets it wrong. Scripture shows us that being a sheep of God’s flock is not without thinking. It’s actively listening to the Word and accepting it. Sure, in today’s age if we follow along with the crowd, it is a bad thing if we aren’t paying attention to what we’re actually following. If it’s not the loving voice of our Good Shepherd, then nothing good can come of it.
And thus we return to today’s Gospel for one more beautiful image, where Jesus tells us He is the gate. We can easily understand a Sacrificial Lamb, giving His life to save ours. We can easily understand Good Shepherd, leading and guiding us with love and care. But a gate? A passageway? More than that, the passageway — to good pasture, to salvation, to having life and having it more abundantly in the world to come.
As Peter exhorts the people to repent and be baptized so as to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness, it becomes readily apparent that Jesus — the Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, the Gate by which we enter into the salvation of Heaven — that He alone is the Way, the Truth and Life. Let us find our way to the glory of the Father through Him, with Him and in Him.
A lo largo de la historia de la salvación, la imagen de Jesús como Pastor y del pueblo que sigue al Señor como las ovejas de su rebaño ha sido una forma venerada e icónica de reflexionar sobre la relación que tenemos con nuestro Señor. En este Domingo del Buen Pastor, reflexionamos no solo sobre el Buen Pastor que nos cuida con amor, a nosotros, sus ovejas, sino también sobre cómo Jesús amplió nuestra comprensión de la relación que nos ofrece a cada uno de nosotros.
En el Evangelio de Juan de hoy, Jesús nos recuerda esa relación pastor-oveja, que como Pastor nos conoce individualmente. Nos llama por nuestro nombre. Y nos cuida, guiándonos hacia dónde debemos ir y yendo delante de nosotros como ejemplo y protector.
San Pedro, tanto en su discurso en los Hechos de los Apóstoles como en su carta en la Segunda Lectura, nos recuerda que la fe en Jesús es nuestro objetivo. Él fue crucificado por nosotros, por lo tanto, no solo es nuestro Pastor, sino también el Cordero Sacrificial que quita nuestros pecados. Esos pecados consistieron en alejarnos activamente del Buen Pastor. Su acto salvador de muerte y resurrección nos llama de nuevo a su rebaño, donde debemos escuchar activamente y seguir su voz.
La sociedad moderna nos haría creer que ser una oveja es algo malo, seguir a la multitud, supuestamente sin pensar. La sociedad moderna, por supuesto, se equivoca. La Escritura nos muestra que ser una oveja del rebaño de Dios no significa no pensar. Significa escuchar activamente la Palabra y aceptarla. Claro, en la actualidad, si seguimos a la multitud, es algo malo si no prestamos atención a lo que realmente estamos siguiendo. Si no es la voz amorosa de nuestro Buen Pastor, entonces nada bueno puede resultar de ello.
Y así volvemos al Evangelio de hoy para otra hermosa imagen, donde Jesús nos dice que Él es la puerta. Podemos comprender fácilmente a un Cordero Sacrificial, que da su vida para salvar la nuestra. Podemos comprender fácilmente al Buen Pastor, que nos guía y nos conduce con amor y cuidado. ¿Pero una puerta? ¿Un corredor? Más que eso, el corredor hacia buenos pastos, hacia la salvación, hacia tener vida y tenerla en abundancia en el mundo venidero.
Mientras Pedro exhorta al pueblo a arrepentirse y ser bautizado para recibir el don del Espíritu Santo, a fin de que, libres de pecado, vivamos para la justicia, se hace evidente que Jesús —el Buen Pastor, el Cordero de Dios que quita nuestros pecados, la Puerta por la que entramos en la salvación del Cielo— es el único Camino, la Verdad y la Vida. Encontremos nuestro camino hacia la gloria del Padre a través de Él, con Él y en Él.
Mike Karpus is a regular guy. He grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, graduated from Michigan State University and works as an editor. He is married to a retired Catholic school principal, raised two daughters who became Catholic school teachers at points in their careers, and now relishes his three young grandchildren. He serves on a Catholic school board and has served on pastoral councils, a building committee and a parish stewardship committee. He currently is a lector at Mass, a Knight of Columbus, vice president of a memorial scholarship committee and a board member of the local Habitat for Humanity organization. But mostly he’s a regular guy.
Feature Image Credit: dilan archive, pexels.com/photo/shepherd-watching-over-sheep-grazing-grass-18279399/
The views and opinions expressed in the Inspiration Daily blog are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Diocesan, the Diocesan staff, or other contributors to this blog.
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