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Gospel: John 10: 27- 30
Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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While twenty-five of us journeyed to the Holy Land physically two weeks ago, I’m amazed knowing how many of you also participated in our pilgrimage online. Some of the videos of Masses we celebrated have over one-thousand views!
One of the main reasons why I proposed this pilgrimage was to make Jesus real for us. We needed to see where he lived; where he ministered; where he died; and where he rose from the dead.
Seeing these places in person – or even online – adds color to the Gospels.
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For example, on the picture located at the top of this sermon, you’ll see a shepherd shepherding his sheep. I took this photo from our tour bus as we journeyed to the Dead Sea.
This single photo brought today’s Gospel to life, giving me a better idea of what the first listeners might’ve thought of when they heard Jesus’ words about being a shepherd shepherding his sheep.
We see the shepherd in front and the sheep huddled behind him.
“I am the Good Shepherd,” Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me.” We are that flock, the community of disciples, hearing his words, following his lead.
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Today’s short Gospel passage also contains within it the logic of our mission statement. As many of you know, here at St. Pius X we have three pillars: Building Community, Worshiping God, and Making Disciples.
These are, in a sense, the three things that sheep must do.
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Sheep have a natural herding mentality; they stay with their community.
If a sheep gets separated from the flock, it panics; it literally stands in place and shakes, waiting either for its shepherd or for death.
We shouldn’t be any different. Staying tied to our community of faith gives us strength, protection and purpose; we are not meant to journey through life alone.
At Saint Pius X, we journey together by building community.
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Secondly, we worship God.
Worshiping God means we come here especially on Sundays to listen to His voice. We hear Jesus speak to us in our readings, through the music we sing, through the homily, and through the prayers we offer together.
“My sheep hear my voice,” he says, “I know them and they follow me.”
Sheep are known for their ability to distinguish their shepherd’s voice from others. They will not follow anyone else, only their shepherd.
Here we try to do the same thing. We sharpen our resolve to tune other voices out, listening only to the voice of God.
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Once we hear the Lord’s voice, then we must make the decision to follow him. In a word, to become his disciple.
Again, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice … and … they follow me.”
It is this unity of hearing and following that bind the sheep to their shepherd, and us to Jesus.
God is here to guide us throughout our lives, to inform our decisions, to fill our hearts with peace, and above all, to lead us along the path to everlasting life.
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This leads us to the very heart of the sheep and shepherd imagery.
Sheep have a “you first” instinct.
They will not go anywhere their shepherd has not gone before. This instinct is so strong that if the shepherd moves to the back of the flock and calls his sheep, they’ll literally make a U-turn, quickly gathering behind him.
Sheep trust their shepherd implicitly; wherever he is going must be safe.
Think about this in terms of the empty tomb. Following Jesus not only leads us to Good Friday; it also ends with Easter Sunday.
As we read in the Psalms, “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul…
… Even when I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Indeed, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
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Here at St. Pius X, we build community. We worship God. And we make disciples.
Like sheep following their shepherd, we journey together knowing that wherever the Lord leads us, we shall be saved.
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Image credits: (1) Yours truly. (2) Group Bible Study (3) Understanding the Gospel