Do you belong to Jesus?

DO YOU BELONG TO JESUS?

Jn. 10: 27-30

Sheep are curious creatures.  They get into all sorts of difficulties.  If they are not fenced in, they wander here, there and everywhere, and can become lost.  They seem not to sense danger.  They never observe the Highway Code at all!  Thank God they have shepherds and a dog to take care of them, to get them out of difficulties and to bring them back to where they are supposed to be.  To be called a sheep is really no compliment!

How do we feel when Jesus speaks of His followers as sheep?  Are some of us offended because sheep are not thought of as being intelligent?  Yet, for Jesus and the early Church it was an important image. Jesus spoke of Himself as the Good Shepherd.  For Him it was a perfect description of His relationship with His disciples.  The shepherd was the one whose whole life was given to caring for his flock.  He lived with them through all weathers and in every circumstance, sharing their hardships.

It was the custom in Palestine for shepherds in the evening to gather their sheep and pen them in one sheepfold.  In the morning a shepherd just had to call his own sheep and they would recognise his voice and follow him.  The sheep that did not know his voice would not follow him.  This is why Jesus could say, “The sheep that belong to Me listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me.”  Three qualities are involved here:  belonging to Jesus, listening to His voice and following Him.  If I am baptised, that should mean I belong to Jesus, I listen to Him and am, therefore, a follower of Jesus.

In my ministry as a priest I have met many Catholics who only come to Church at Christmas, weddings and funerals, and who expect their children to be baptised.  They will tell you there is no need to bring their children to Mass every Sunday as long as they lead good honest lives.  Can you say of these people that they belong to Christ?  For myself, if I was in that situation, I would have to admit that I did not belong to Christ.  Every Sunday Jesus offers me Himself to be the food of my soul and I refuse Him.  How can I say I love and appreciate Him?

Do I listen to the voice of Christ?  Jesus can speak to me in so many different ways.  Let me mention a few.  If I am attentive to the Holy Spirit, He can speak to me through Him.  If I read the Bible prayerfully or listen attentively to sermons, He can speak to me.  He can speak to me in prayer when I talk to Him.  The big question is, 'Am I listening?'  Sometimes I can be doing all the talking and not listening to Him at all!

Do I follow Jesus?  Our Lord speaks to me through His Church.  There is a percentage of Catholics who come to Mass every Sunday, but it could be asked how well they follow Jesus when it comes to the Ten Commandments, and the Commandments of the Church, in their everyday lives.  They make up their own rules.  Let us just take one example.  How many people today live together before marriage?  They are living in sin committing fornication.  The marriage act is the privilege of those who are married.  Some of them will tell you they are doing nothing wrong because they love each other, are not promiscuous and one day they will get married.  But God's commandments and those of the Church say you cannot live that way.  Marriage gives you the right and privilege to a full life together because you have first made a lifelong commitment before God to help each other to Heaven.

Jesus liked calling Himself the Good Shepherd and He wants us to be His sheep, to follow Him and to remain close to Him.  We know from the parable of the Lost Sheep that each one of us is so precious to Him.  If ever we stray from His love, He has given us the best way of returning to Him and that is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Let us frequent this Sacrament at least monthly and so never stray far from His love.

Lord Jesus, I acknowledge you as my Good Shepherd.  May I be Your good sheep who belongs to You, who listens to Your voice and follows You.

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