Jesus himself warns that his sheep are constantly being threatened by wolves and thieves that want to steal and slaughter and destroy and scatter them. False shepherds also threaten to lead the sheep away from the unity of the flock.
Our Lord even says, “behold I send you out as sheep amidst the wolves”. He intentionally sends us into territory occupied by predators.
It sounds like an impossible task. Yet, the duty of the shepherd is to stand watch, and guard his sheep. Even though he sends us out into enemy occupied territory, with all our tendencies to be scattered and be led astray, Christ keeps vigil over us, he labors day and night, through every sort of weather, to protect us.
Today we heard how “Jesus lays down his life for the sheep.” To rescue us from the teeth of the wolf, He Himself became a victim of the wolves.
Scripture cannot stress enough the importance of the virtue of obedience. The word obedience come from the latin oboedire, which means to listen, to hear, to incline your ear. The sheep are only able to obey the shepherd when they listen to him. And we can only listen to him when we are accustomed to the sound of his voice.
Some portray God as distant and silent. In fact, sometimes he speaks so clearly, our disobedient ears just don’t want to hear it.
In a culture where the voices of wolves, thieves, and false shepherds are so prevalent, we must all the more accustom our ears to the voice of the shepherd who speaks through the official teaching office of the Church, through the writings and examples of the saints, and in silent moments of prayer.
Will I allow the voice of the good shepherd to penetrate all the other distracting voices today? Will I open my ears to hear him calling me back if I have strayed? Will I allow him to strengthen and challenge me to love others more than myself and to obey the Father’s will? For the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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