GOOD SHEPHERD

Jesus said: “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11). He lays down His life for the sheep. This is one of the seven I am sayings in the gospel of John. I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the gate. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the true vine. The I am sayings of Jesus point to the name revealed by God to Moses in Exodus. I am who am (Exodus 3:14). Jesus identifies himself with God and as God. He speaks and acts in the person of God. He alone can meet our needs and longings. Psalm 23 says that the Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. In green pastures he leads me and he gives me repose. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He is creating a community of love. Jesus said that greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends(John 15:13). He loves to the end. He gives freely without reserve. His self sacrificial actions on the Cross  reveal God’s extravagant, total, radical love for us. The Good shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know him. He is creating a community of knowledge. To know in the Bible goes beyond physical contact. It involves experience. It is relationship, intimacy. Jesus is one of us. He identifies with His followers  because we are His Mystical Body. He is the head. There are other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must lead them also. They will hear my voice and there will be one flock, one shepherd (John 10:16). The Good Shepherd is creating a community of unity. I will draw all people to myself (John 12:32). We are children of God. Jesus is creating new heavens, new earth, new family. And the focus of the new family is to do the will of the Father. And the will of the Father is our well being, our salvation, new life, new creation. Good Shepherd Sunday is also Vocation Sunday because we are all called to be shepherds entrusted with the care of the other. We are called to holiness. Holiness is to be formed according to the mind and heart of God not for our sake but always for the sake of others. Therefore, to be shepherds is to imitate the infinite, boundless love of Jesus so that no one will feel alone and lonely.