Shepherds

“ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. “

First Reading: Acts 13:14, 43-52

But they passed on from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisid'ia. And on the sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. And when the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered together to hear the word of God.

         

But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted what was spoken by Paul, and reviled him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, `I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

         

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed And the word of the Lord spread throughout all the region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and went to Ico'nium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Psalm: Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5

Second Reading: Revelation 7:9, 14-17

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence.They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their  shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Gospel: John 10:27-30

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

Reflection
By Benj Santiago

“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.” (Jn: 27-28)

In today’s Gospel, I vividly see an image of a loving, caring shepherd. The “Good Shepherd” who is willing to lay His life for His flock. And His flock is not just the chosen people. His sheep are those who hear His voice, those who follow Him. Even the Gentiles (non-Jews) are part of His flock. When Paul and Barnabas spoke to the Gentiles: “The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and glorified the word of the Lord. All who were destined for eternal life came to believe, and the word of the Lord continued to spread through the whole region.”

In Jesus’ time, to be a shepherd is a low level job. Even in today’s standards, the shepherds are still low level farm hands. Whole day you take care of nothing but your flock. That could be boring and tiring. If you do not really care about your flock, they get to stray away or is lost and you don’t do anything about it for what you care about is just the pay you get from it. But Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He continues to show us that He is even willing to give up His life for us. The Psalmist says “The LORD is good: his kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.” The question is do we know Him? Do we hear His Voice? Do we follow Him? How?

I have been consistently attending the Light Of Jesus Community for more than 4 years now. I attend the weekly gathering which is aptly called “The Feast” at PICC. Weekly, I get a dose of inspiration from Bro. Bo Sanchez; the Spiritual Leader of the community. I have deepened my relationship with our Lord through the love filled, and most often down to earth and funny sharing of this wonderful person, called Bo. It is where I learn to know more about Jesus, hear His Voice through the sharing, and follow Him by doing what I am inspired to do for my fellowmen. The disciples had Jesus as their Shepherd. The Gentiles had Paul and Barnabas as their shepherd. I have Bro Bo as my shepherd. Now, I am doing my best to be worthy to shepherd people too to the right path, the greener pasture, to “springs of life-giving water.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You and glorify You for You have given us Your only begotten Son to be our Good Shepherd. May we continue to hear His voice and follow Him in our day to day activities. May we know Him more dearly so we can follow His example of being a good shepherd to our own family, our friends, our entire community, and most especially to people who do not know Him yet. All this we ask in the mighty name of our Good Shepherd, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, forever and ever. Amen!