FULL OF LIFE IN THE GOOD SHEPHERD

MONDAY, Fourth Week of Eastertide

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Acts 11:1-18; Ps 42:2-3,43:3-4; Jn 10:1-10

Theme: Fullness of Life in the Good Shepherd

Humanity belongs to the Almighty God, who made it for his good pleasure. God is the one who keeps the gate of humanity because human existence belongs to him. The evil one entered through the window, the weakness in the beautiful nature that God made, and corrupted it with sin. He intended to hijack what belongs to God and destroy it. The statements of our Lord in the gospel contain this much. “I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the Shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out.” Because the Father commanded the Son to become man, Jesus entered through the gate. In another meaning, because Jesus Christ is the Eternal Word, he presents himself as the gate of the sheepfold. This is because the Father created all things by his Word, and the meaning and the truths of everything made by God are contained in the Word. Hence, no one can access the meaning of humanity and the truth of man’s existence if not through the Son. Jesus Christ reveals the true meaning of man's existential problems and the solutions.

Jesus Christ, because he is the Son of God and the Son of Man, is the gate of the sheepfold and the Shepherd. The Son of Man enters the sheepfold through the gate, namely, his divinity, to become the Shepherd of the sheep. The sheep hear his voice because they see their nature in him. They hear his voice also because he calls each by name. He knows the nature of the sheep through and through and understands their lives since they belong to him. In addition, because the Son of Man comes not only with human nature but also with divine nature, he contains the pasture for the sheep. The Son of Man came in the name of the Father to reveal the truth that gives fullness of life to the sheep. “Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture.” Our vocation is to discover this safe way to heavenly pasture and help others within our influence to discover it.

The risen Lord directs the disciples to do that in the first reading. They discovered the other fold that is not of Jewish stock but of Gentile stock. The Lord referred to this when he said he has other sheep of different folds. “And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock, and one shepherd.” Every human person is to find his fulfilment in Jesus Christ, and every human problem is solvable in him. This understanding ought to rekindle the fire of missionary work in every Christian soul. This may not necessarily mean going out for missionary work. But it entails prayer and love for the salvation of every soul one comes in contact with every day. It involves making ourselves channels through which the good Shepherd leads each sheep to heavenly pasture.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to discover the way you have opened for us through the sacred humanity of your Son, that we may safely come to the pasture of eternal life in you.