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4th Sunday of Easter, 2025
“My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me.” John 10:27
All of us probably know at least part of the Good Shepherd Psalm. Some may even know the whole psalm. Jesus must have recited this psalm many times, especially as he reflected on the mission that his Father had given him. He was to be the Good Shepherd. His Father entrusted to his care every person who has or will exist in time. It was his mission to give his sheep eternal life, the life that he shared with his Father, the life which is the fruit of love so deep and strong that it is the unifying person of the Spirit. It is eternal life because it is God. That is the fold to which he leads every sheep that hears his voice.
He knows us better than we know ourselves and so he can be trusted to lead us to our deepest good. No one, no thing, no circumstance can snatch us from his hand or the Father’s hand. We are enfolded in a love beyond anything our human mind can grasp. Only mutual love can give it meaning, but not as a thought to be grasped. Love only as a relationship with God to be realized in faith.
We can entrust ourselves to this Good Shepherd, Jesus. And if we do, you can be sure he will ask us to be shepherds to each other. To care for, love, forgive, encourage, respect one another. We will share in the mission that the Father gave Jesus. It won’t mean that our lives will not have the cross. It didn’t mean that for Jesus, either. But it WILL mean that in our deepest self, we will share at every moment in the eternal life who is God and who dwells in the deepest center of all that is. We shall not want. Our Shepherd will see to that!
Let me conclude with the Good Shepherd Psalm. May Jesus bring to pass in the depths of our being, the eternal life with which he enfolds us:
“The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit.
He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and our staff; with these you give me comfort.
You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell forever and ever.”
Amen.