John 10: 11-18
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason 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 of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Recognizing Our Shepherd
“I know mine and mine know me.”
I’ve heard it said that sheep are not very smart when it comes to survival. They wander; they get stuck; they trip and fall; they are easily stolen if the thief knows how to herd them. A shepherd friend once told me about a lamb who needed extra care. When it was older, a thief stole it along with several others. The shepherd was visiting another farm on business a year later. When that sheep heard his voice, it would not stop bleating until the shepherd came to find it.
Sheep may not be very smart, but they recognize the voice of the one who cares for them. Jesus knew Peter and Peter knew him, well enough to recognize the Holy Spirit’s movement in a group of outsiders, and to realize that he could not limit how God wanted to give. How do we recognize our Shepherd in unexpected places?
—Molly Mattingly is the Music Ministry Coordinator at Creighton University Campus Ministry and St. John’s Parish in Omaha.
Prayer
O Peter, if you love me, you must care for my sheep;
if you follow your Shepherd, then a shepherd you’ll be.
—“Two Were Bound for Emmaus” by Bob Hurd, verse 3