If you took the love of all the best mothers and fathers who ever lived (think about that for a moment)--all the goodness, kindness, patience, fidelity, wisdom, tenderness, strength and love--and united all those virtues in one person, that person would only be a faint shadow of the love and mercy in the heart of God for you and me.
Gospel text (Jn 10,11-18): Jesus said:
"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
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.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father."
Today, let us take time to remember that God ultimately loves us, no matter what happens in our lives. We may feel like we don’t deserve it but God promises us that he is always watching over us, and he is always there guiding us throughout the good and the bad.
But how do we know?
Well it’s a promise, and it’s a promise that Christ does not break. He calls us his “sheep” and he is our “shepherd.” And just as a shepherd provides shelter and comfort to his flock, the flock knows the shepherd by his call, his voice and his presence. We are his children, his beloved family, and we have forever received his grace and love by no means of our own. We were created in his image, so today let us remember that God loves us, no matter what.
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