“The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge; it is always simple and direct.”

I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible. St. Teresa of Avila


(Gospel Text: Jn 10:1-10)

Jesus said:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Many people have trouble remembering names!  The fact that Christ calls us by name indicates how thoroughly he knows us and how close he wants to be to each of us.  In God's eyes, we are not anonymous parts of a nameless crowd.  Each of us is important to the Lord, who extends special attention to everyone.

Christ has given us the Church to act in his stead as shepherd and guide. The Church does not replace Christ, but is the instrument that he instituted to transmit the grace of salvation to the world.  "The Church is the Body of Christ. she lives from him, in him, and for him; he lives with her and in her" (Catechism, nos. 805, 807).
 


The sheep of Christ's flock are able to follow him because "they recognize his voice" (Jn 10: 4).  There are so many voices that compete for our attention, not the least of which is our own imagination and ego!  We need a spirit of discernment in order to distinguish the voice of Christ from whatever else clamors for our attention.
 


Just as modern communication technology can distort a person's voice, a heart that is not focused on the Lord may lose its capacity to hear Christ.  Repentance of heart and conversion of life clear out the debris that interferes with our interior hearing.  



The sacrament of Penance is a particularly effective means of attuning our hearing to the voice of the Lord.  Let us not be afraid to use it, so that we might follow the Good Shepherd with greater energy and joy.

Of the words of Jesus today in the gospel passage above, I would suggest our paying a deeper attention to these verses: «I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me» (Jn 10:14); even more so, «The sheep hear his voice (...) and the sheep follow him for they know his voice» (Jn 10:3-4). It is true Jesus knows us, but, can we also say we know Him.