“I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:14-15 NABRE
The title, Good Shepherd, promises much in and of itself: protection from danger, being led by Jesus, being in a community-part of a flock, being cared for—led to water and food. Jesus promises this is how He cares for us—in every way.
Mine…there’s that claiming of us again. This time, however, it goes even deeper. Jesus compares His knowing us to how He and the Father know one another. He implies a great intimacy, a unification with us that could only be achieved spiritually. It is mind blowing to think of the chain this sets off. The transfer of love between Father and Son now being transferred to love between the Good Shepherd and each of us, which is turn causes us to receive the same love of the Father as Jesus received. Wow.
The promise is that of love and of Jesus as shepherd is always leading us. Whether we have joined the flock or not, love leads us. He talks about those not in this fold yet. He leads them as well. He loves them as well. He is leading and calling us, follow me….He is calling us through others, come and see…He is seeking us from thorny patches, do you want to be healed…He is calling us out of death, little girl, arise…He is calling us into love, you are my beloved.
Are you listening for Him? He has promised to lead you. He has promised to lay down His life for you, and He does it again and again in the power of the Mass, to be one with you, just as He is one with the Father. How can we lay down our lives like He did? We only need to follow His lead.
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