“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
POINTERS FOR PRAYER
1. “Care” seems to be the fundamental image here. It invites a reflection on our own experience of being cared for, in all sorts of ways. It opens us to the experience of being cared for by God in Jesus. Prayer of being loved.
2. Guidance is part of the metaphor. In what ways have I found myself lost in the labyrinth of life and in need of direction? Where did I find guidance? Does the word of God guide me today? Prayer of being accompanied.
3. In looking for meaning, when did I realise the Gospel is really not a teaching but a person? Prayer of relationship.
4. We all want to live and be alive, to have life in abundance. How am I at this point in my life? Where does faith in the Jesus as the gate come in? Prayer of being alive.
What is distinctive about our faith as Christians? We do not believe in a system of ideas or even in a higher ethics: we believe in a person, who gives life “a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Benedict XVI). John’s Gospel makes this clear with its great I am sentences, one of which we hear today: “I am the gate.”
Jesus’ words suggest to us that those who will lead the Christian community will be known by their faithfulness to Jesus.
Jesus’ allegory also suggests that faithful Christian leadership requires a good relationship with the community: the shepherd knows his sheep, and they know him. Christian leaders follow the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, by being faithful to him and by being a good shepherd.