READINGS: ACTS 4:8-12; PSA 117:1,8-9,21-23,26,28-29; 1 JN 3:1-2; JOHN 10:11-18
THEME: HE ALONE IS MY LEAD
Dearest friends, today, the readings present Jesus as the figure we cannot do without. Through the name of Jesus, the apostle, Peter and John, were able to heal the cripple man, thereby showing that even when Christ is no longer physically present, he remains with his people in all that they do and through his name, greater works can be done. But unfortunately, not many people accept and follow Christ, the cornerstone.
- WE ARE CREATED TO BE SHEEP.
It is in the nature of man to be a sheep. In the Bible, sheep has the following characteristics:
- sheep are seen as a sacrificial animals or animals to be slaughtered (cf Gen 4:4; J 2:14f; Rom 8:36; Ps 43:23).
- sheep are defenseless in the midst of wolves (cf. Mt 10:16).
- sheep are always in danger without a shepherd (cf. Mt 9:36; Mk 6:34; Num 27:17; Ezk 34:5; Jdth 11:19; Mt 26:31; Mk 14:27; Zech 13:7; Is 53:6)
- sheep generally know and listen to the voice of whom they follow (Jn 10:3-5, 26-27)
Our interest is on the last three which sum up to demonstrate a sheep as animal that is meant to follow and be in the custody of the shepherd. In the same way also, we are naturally meant to follow. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel are demonstrated as God’s sheep, while God is shown as their shepherd (cf Psa 79:13; 95:7; 100:3). In the New Testament, Christ becomes the shepherd and his believers his sheep (Jn 10:1-16, 26-27).
In the life of the Church, the bishop is given the title of a shepherd following Jesus’ task to Peter, and those put under his charge are his sheep (cf Jn 21:16-17). But unlike sheep who are beasts, God gave man the freedom to choose whom or what to follow.
The problem of man right from Genesis has been “what or whom man is following.” The first sin of humanity in Adam and Eve in Gen 3 is possible because they stopped following God’s voice and instruction and began to follow that of the tempter. God’s relationship with the people of Israel was constantly in tension of whether Israel will abandon God and begin to follow the gods of other nations around them. Christ himself says that either one is following him and gathers with him, or that he is not his follower and as such, instead of gathering with him, the person scatters (Matt 12:30).
- AS A SHEEP, WHOM OR WHAT DO YOU FOLLOW?
In the life of a sheep, voice is always important because that is what determines whom the sheep follow. But it is always beautiful to see how sheep can always recognize the voice of its shepherd in the midst of many voices. The sheep know the voice of the shepherd and follow only that voice. Even if the voice of the shepherd is calling them into a difficult situation or to an unpleasant location, and another voice is calling them from a pleasant and green pasture, the sheep will always follow the voice of the shepherd because they trust the shepherd.
As sheep, we have only Christ as our shepherd, and we are expected to know his voice and follow only that. Christ tells the Jews that the only reason they do not know him nor follow him is because they are not his sheep, for his sheep know his voice and follow thus (cf Jn 10:26-27).
Hence, if we are really Christ’s sheep, it is contradictory not to be following his voice. Although in another context but still valid for our discussion, St. Paul in 1 Cor 14:10, speaks of many voices in the world but if we are not interested in them, if we pay no attention to them, then they will be meaningless to us. The only voice that should be meaningful and worth our knowing of and our attention, is that of Christ. Christ alone is our good shepherd.
He is the only one who can defend us, in him we face no danger, and with him we are sure of the security and the provision of a shepherd to his sheep. Just as it is not possible for a sheep to follow two voices at the same time, so also it is not possible for us to be the followers of God’s voice and the followers of other voices in the world. Jesus himself refers to this when he says, “no one can serve two masters…you cannot serve God and the wealth.” (Matt 6:24). And it is either one is following Jesus, or he is not with him (cf Jn 6:67-69).
- THE GOOD SHEPHERD LISTENS WHEN HIS SHEEP CALLS HIS NAME
Just as Jesus the Good Shepherd, calls his sheep by name (cf Jn 10:3) and the sheep listen, so also does Jesus listen when his sheep call his name. In the first reading, people were marveled because Peter and John healed a cripple man through the name of Jesus. When we are true followers of Christ, we will always understand what his voice demands of us, and when his voice calls us to action.
Christ is the sheep of the Father because he listens to and follows the voice of the Father. And this is why he is bold always to say that whoever sees him has seen the Father (cf Jn 12:45; 14:9). In the same way, as the sheep of Christ, it supposed to be that whoever sees us has seen Christ because we listen to and follow his voice. When we follow Christ’s voice, we will do nothing, but that which Christ does and which he asks us to do.
Because Jesus listens to and follows the voice of the Father, it is clear to him that he is not only doing the work of the Father but that he is also co-working with the Father for he himself says, “my father goes on working, so do I.” (Jn 5:17). If we are faithful followers of Jesus, the work of Christ will be continued in and through us. Christ himself says that if we believe in him and follow him, we will do his works and even greater works because whatever we ask in his name, he will do it (cf Jn 12:12-14; 15:7; 16:23-24)
Dearest friends, St. John reminds us in the second reading that we are children of God. That means, we have only God as our Father and only him owns our followership and obedience. Although we live in the world, we are not children of the world.
Hence, anything in the world that will aim at taking us away from the fatherhood of God or try to take away our attention from the voice of our true Shepherd, Christ Jesus, we must run away from such because either that it is nothing but a wolf that has come to destroy us or that it is a mere laborer seeking to take advantage of us and lure un into our destruction just for its selfish benefits.
Together we must always sing: “He leadeth me, o blessed thought! O words with heav’ly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be, still ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me.
His faithful follower I would be. For by his hand he leadeth me.”
Fr. Nnamah Henry C
Catholic Diocese of Aguleri