The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage us to seek the light of the Good Shepherd who leads us to peace and fullness of life.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles shares the address of Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles.
* [13:46] The refusal to believe frustrates God’s plan for his chosen people; however, no adverse judgment is made here concerning their ultimate destiny. Again, Luke, in the words of Paul, speaks of the priority of Israel in the plan for salvation (see Acts 10:36). (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 13, n.d.)
Psalm 100 declares that all lands are summoned to praise God.
* [Psalm 100] A hymn inviting the people to enter the Temple courts with thank offerings for the God who created them. * [100:3] Although the people call on all the nations of the world to join in their hymn, they are conscious of being the chosen people of God. (Psalms, PSALM 100, n.d.)
The reading from the Book of Revelation describes the multitude from every nation.
* [7:1–17] An interlude of two visions precedes the breaking of the seventh seal, just as two more will separate the sixth and seventh trumpets (Rev 10). In the first vision (Rev 7:1–8), the elect receive the seal of the living God as protection against the coming cataclysm; cf. Rev 14:1; Ez 9:4–6; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30. The second vision (Rev 7:9–17) portrays the faithful Christians before God’s throne to encourage those on earth to persevere to the end, even to death. (Revelation, CHAPTER 7, n.d.)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus declares that ‘My sheep hear my voice.’
* [10:29] The textual evidence for the first clause is very divided; it may also be translated: “As for the Father, what he has given me is greater than all,” or “My Father is greater than all, in what he has given me.” * [10:30] This is justification for Jn 10:29; it asserts unity of power and reveals that the words and deeds of Jesus are the words and deeds of God. (John, CHAPTER 10, n.d.)
Rev. Richard Gabuzda comments that we have a goal, but we need a trustworthy guide to lead us there. Today’s Gospel passage provides just that: we are invited to become followers of the Shepherd who will guide us to eternity “where [we] will never perish.” Jesus is both Lamb and Shepherd, Goal and Guide.
Far from being merely a guide hired for pay, however, our Shepherd has a particular closeness to us and a particular care for us. First, we are told, he knows us. We are not “just one of the crowd,” but we are personally known by our Guide. Second, for what at times can feel like a perilous journey, we are given a great assurance: “no one can take them out of my hand.” Where do we find ourselves today on the journey to eternity? Are we looking forward to arriving there? Are we fearful of or hesitant about that goal? Are we so burdened with the challenges of the present moment that talk of that distant future seems hollow? “I know them,” Jesus says and so he invites us to share with him where we find ourselves today on this pilgrimage of life. Rather than trying to make our way on our own, let’s entrust ourselves to him and let him lead us along the mountain passes and trails, with the assurance that no one can take us out of his hands. (Gabuzda, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “The Great might of Christ's hand,” by Clement of Alexandria, 150-215 A.D.
"The faithful also have the help of Christ, and the devil is not able to snatch them. Those who have an endless enjoyment of good things remain in Christ's hand, no one thereafter snatching them away from the bliss that is given to them. [No one can throw them] into punishment or torments. For it is not possible that those who are in Christ's hand should be snatched away to be punished because of the great might Christ has. For 'the hand' in the divine Scripture signifies 'the power'- It cannot be doubted therefore that the hand of Christ is unconquerable and mighty to all things." (excerpt from the COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.1) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 10:27-30 urges us to trust this Good Shepherd! He always has us in his sights, even in our difficulties, and he will lead us through them. He may even use those struggles to bring us to that place where he wants us—with him, face-to-face in heaven. This is why he came to earth. This is why he suffered and died. And this is why he rose from the dead, all so that one day we too could rise with him and live with him forever.
No matter what happens to you, you can always count on the Good Shepherd to walk beside you. He will even carry you on his shoulders if you are too weak to keep walking. Throughout your journey, he will nourish you with his own Body and Blood in the Eucharist and refresh you with the water of his life-giving Spirit. And when your days on earth have ended, he will usher you into his heavenly kingdom. He will present you to his Father and say, “Here is my beloved, the sheep of my flock. I have brought him safely home.” “Jesus, you are my Shepherd. Let me never take my eyes off of you.” (Meditation on John 10:27-30, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler traces the movement of Paul and Barnabas from preaching in synagogue to being chased from Antioch to preach to the Gentiles. The Great Multitude before the Throne represents the people of the Old and New Israel, a thousand times over. Friar Jude reminds us of the realized eschatology of John’s Gospel that is all about our relationship with God everyday.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that in Mirabai Starr’s new book Saint John of the Cross: Luminous Darkness, she highlights four major themes found in the writings of John of the Cross (1542–1591): longing, silence, unknowing, and love. The experience of the twentieth-century mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin echoes that of John of the Cross four centuries earlier.
God does not offer Himself to our finite beings as a thing all complete and ready to be embraced. For us God is eternal discovery and eternal growth. The more we think we understand God, the more God reveals Himself as otherwise. The more we think we hold God, the further God withdraws, drawing us into the depths of Himself. [1] [Father Richard concludes:] I must be honest with you here about my own life. For the last ten years I have had little spiritual “feeling,” neither consolation nor desolation. Most days, I’ve had to simply choose to believe, to love, and to trust. In this, I know I stand in good company with Teilhard, John of the Cross, Mother Teresa, and countless other mystics and saints, and maybe some of you.
But God rewards me from letting God reward me:
This is the divine two-step that we call grace:
I am doing it, and yet I am not doing it;
It is being done unto me, and yet by me too.
Yet God always takes the lead in the dance, which we only recognize over time. (Mystical Allurement, n.d.)
Our mystical journey in response to the call of the Good Shepherd is the path to our fullness of life.
