“Beloved: Clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.” (1P 5: 5-7)
We are really beloved children of God. He expects from us only to “clothe ourselves with humility,” which helps us to recognize the dignity of our brothers and us and trust “the mighty hand of God.” We are asked to “cast all our worries upon Him because He cares for us.”
“We proclaim Christ crucified; he is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (JN 13: 33-35)
“Disciples” are recognized by only one thing—“all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another,” and the model for this love is also one: Our Lord—“as I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” His example was gentle, respectful, enduring, based on rituals, patient, creative, chaste and unconditional—“as I have loved you.”
“I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” (ACTS 13: 44)
The most beautiful way to gather together “almost the whole city” is “to hear the word of the Lord.” When we are focused on Him, when we listen to Him, when we come “to hear the word of the Lord,” immediately we are also united with others. God’s word unites us, brings us closer to each other and makes strangers into brothers living in one community. The word of the Lord makes us a community; remaining in His word makes us His disciples.
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, says the Lord.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” (JN 14: 1-4)
Such a comforting message: “in my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” Especially when we have a tendency to expect all people to have the same or similar places in heaven. Fortunately, Our Lord reminds us—“there are many dwelling places” in heaven. There is a home for martyrs and virgins, for believers and preachers, for priests and spouses, for fast and melancholics.
“I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.” (JN 13: 16-17)
Whatever we do, we do in the name of the Father and His Son. We are sent to bring forth fruits, but our mission is not focused on what we can do, but on the message of the Father. We are chosen to remind our brothers and sisters that we are loved, that there is always hope, that God is greater than our sins, and that He only expects us to turn back to Him and ask Him for forgiveness
“Jesus Christ, you are the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, you have loved us and freed us from our sins by your Blood.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.’” (JN 12: 44-47)
Our Lord came to tell us about God’s love for us and bring us back to the Father. “If anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.” At the same moment, because Jesus is the image of the Father and speaks the words of the Father, our response to Him is the measure of how we respond to the Father. This is the reason why Jesus spoke with such a passion—cried out.
“I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. 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.” (JN 10: 25-30)
All of Our Lord’s actions came from His unity with His Father and from His relationship to the Father and with the Father. Any works He does, He does in His Father’s name—“The Father and I are one.” Also in our lives, our good actions are a result of being loved by God rather than a way to earn God’s love.
“My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, ‘God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.’” (ACTS 11: 18)
We should always be open; for surprising and exceeding our imagination is God’s merciful love. It is so easy for us to think in a condemning way: ‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them,” but Our Lord works differently: “If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” Confronted with God’s merciful love, we should, like the first community of Christians, “stop objecting and glorify God.” Only God knows everything about us; only He loves us unconditionally, and only He, The Good Shepherd, can “grant life-giving repentance to us.” We can’t.
“I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.”
“For this reason they stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (REV 7: 15-17)
Today we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday. “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” There is no way we could go on living were we no longer to hear Him speak (Johan A. Moehler)—ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ, who “leads us to springs of life-giving water.” One of the “springs of life-giving water” is the Theology of the Body, where we can recognize our identity—beloved children of God. And we are invited to serve in this area in so many ways: giving others medicine based on their true dignity, giving them service based on a true relationship (never objects, always persons), and giving them advice based on their challenges rather than on their satisfaction.
“I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.’” (JN 6: 68-69)
“You have the words of eternal life.” We should always remember that the Good News is not a book, even an extraordinary book, but a living Person—“and the Word was God.” This is why Our Lord not only IS the word of eternal life but also “HAS the words of eternal life.” When we are confused at a dead end, or not sure what to do, we should go to Him and ask Him first who we are and then what to do. When we open a Bible to pray or to meditate, firstly we are received as a His children, and from this position He can lead us to the right end.
“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.” (Gospel Acclamation)
