THE SHEEP THAT BELONG TO THE GOOD SHEPHERD

TUESDAY, 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

The Sheep that belong to the Good Shepherd

The Jews who were prepared and drawn by the Father to Jesus Christ refused to come to him in faith because they did not belong to him. That is to say that they did not recognise the voice of the Truth because they hesitated and failed to commit themselves to him. They would rather have lies and readily accept lies than the truth that Jesus proclaimed to them. They fell into this state of falsehood by preferring themselves to the word of God. Hence, Jesus accused them many times of changing the word of God or its meaning to do their own will. The habitual putting of self before God and his word has rebranded them into children of evil. By continually preferring their will to God’s will, they tuned their ears and lives to lies and falsehood, such that they could not recognise Truth when they heard it. They demanded that our Lord tell them plainly if he is the Messiah. He told them many times, and they could not understand the Truth because it was unfamiliar. “I have told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness; but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine.” They were not his sheep because they were unwilling to do the will of God. 

To belong to the flock of Jesus, we must spend time with him for our ears to tune to his voice. What happened to the Jews can happen to us if we are not prayerful and vigilant. Right from our upbringing, we are either trained to hear and obey the Truth or habituated to falsehood and lies. Those of us who are parents must be very careful about this. Children listen more to what we do than what we say. If we are not disciples of the Truth, we are slaves of falsehood and lies. By living a life of falsehood, one makes disciples of one’s children and close friends. As our Lord explained, the thief does not come in through the gate but crawls in through the window in the dark unnoticed. The evil one explores the weakness of our fallen human nature to corrupt and destroy a soul. Many of us grew up with such a lifestyle before we came to Jesus Christ. It takes some time to grow familiar with the voice of Truth, the voice of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd. A daily reverent and prayerful reading of the scriptures is helpful for the reconfiguration of our conscious intentions. Alternatively, or in addition, a daily recitation of the holy Rosary and meditations on the mysteries therein, which are summaries of the Gospel truths, are invaluable for tuning our ears and hearts to the voice of the Good Shepherd. 

While some of the Jews were not among the flock of Jesus Christ, many Gentiles were among his flock. Our Lord informed us of this when he mentioned another fold not of Jewish stock. Thus, the sheep of Christ, drawn by the Father to him, are scattered throughout the world. They constitute the City of God, the Father brings to pasture on the holy mountain that is the humanity of Jesus Christ. “On the holy mountain is his city cherished by the Lord. The Lord prefers the gates of Zion to all Jacob’s dwellings. Of you are told glorious things, O city of God! Babylon and Egypt I will count among those who know me; Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia, these shall be her children and Zion shall be called ‘Mother’ for all shall be her children.” This prophecy in the responsorial psalm, was fulfilled in the first reading. The believers came to Antioch and started preaching to Greeks and other Gentiles. They were amazed they responded more readily to the Gospel than the Jews. They had so many converts that Antioch became the largest gathering of disciples of Jesus. The people called them Christians for the first time there. 

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to listen and follow the voice of your Son, the Good Shepherd, that we may make his voice resonate everywhere in the world for the salvation of souls and growth of the heavenly City.

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