Gospel: John 10:1-10

 

In Jesus we have the model of the true shepherd. In Him is fulfilled the expectation of the Good Shepherd promised by God: the “Great Shepherd”, greater than Moses.

 

The image of the gate has several connotations. A gate protects what is inside, the sheep, from the evils outside. The gate is what keeps the sheep in community together inside. The gate is also the way into this community of sheep (the Church).

 

The shepherd enters through the gate to take care of the sheep, not to oppress them or maltreat them. In fact, the sheep recognize his authority (voice) and follow him. The voice of Jesus contains a message of liberation for them that is typical of the Messiah. 

 

Besides, His voice is not addressed to an anonymous group of people, but rather calls each one personally. For Jesus, no anonymous crowd of people exists. Each person has a face, a name, and dignity. The Temple (the enclosure of the sheep) has become a place of darkness, characterized only by economic interests; money has replaced the exclusive attention to God: The Temple has become a business or trading house.

 

Jesus leads the people to take them out of darkness. He does this in a real way, because this is the work which the Father has entrusted to Him. The fundamental strokes of this mission are: to enter and to call. Those who respond to that call, the call to liberty, become a new community: “Those who are His own”.