“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: ‘Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.’
“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and
they asked Peter and the other apostles, ‘What are we to do, my brothers?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far
off, whomever the Lord our God will call.’
He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, ‘Save
yourselves from this corrupt generation.’
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand
persons were added that day.”
Second reading: 1 Pt. 2: 20b-25
“Beloved: If you are patient when you suffer for doing what
is good, this is a grace before God. For
to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you
an example that you should follow in his footsteps. He
committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.
“When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he
suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who
judges justly. He himself bore our sins
in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for
righteousness. By his wounds you have
been healed. For you had gone astray
like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of you
souls.”
Gospel reading: Jn. 10: 1-10
“Jesus said: ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not
enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a
robber. But whoever enters through the
gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The
gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd
calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the
sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will
run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.’ Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
“So Jesus said again, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the
gate for the sheep. All who came before
me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and
will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that
they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Introductory theme summary:
The common theme for today’s readings is a threefold
metaphor: The shepherd, the sheep and the gate they must both pass through.
Reflection:
We are all familiar with the Lord’s reference to himself as
the Good Shepherd, which he certainly is as Peter reminds us in the second
reading. In today’s gospel story,
however, the metaphor relating to the Lord, according to his own explanation,
is the gate through which both shepherds and sheep must pass. So, in this case the shepherd metaphor
relates to those whom the Lord has called to shepherd his sheep, and all those
who follow these authentic shepherds represent His sheep.
The first reading is perfect for substantiating that Jesus
Christ is the one set apart by God as the only means through which we must all
pass in order to receive God’s promises – the gate. It is only by repenting and becoming
baptized, believing in Jesus as Lord and Christ, that anyone can obtain the
promised Holy Spirit through which we receive all the fruits of salvation. Believing in Jesus as “Lord” refers to
believing in His divine nature as the Son of God. Believing in Jesus as “Christ” refers to
believing in His redemptive work, inferred specifically from the significance
of his crucifixion and truth of his resurrection. These are clearly expressed as conditions for
direct entrance into God’s plan of salvation.
The second reading gives us a clear description of how Jesus
is the gate for both shepherds and sheep.
Peter explains that we are all to imitate Jesus example of forbearance: “If
you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before
God. For to this you have been called,
because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should
follow in his footsteps.” “When he was
insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten.” It is specifically through this type of
suffering that Jesus accomplished our salvation, bearing in His own body our
sins; thus making forbearance an essence element to the practice of Christianity. Becoming accomplished in this example, and
able to teach others how to follow it, is precisely how true shepherds
distinguish themselves as such. By that
distinction the sheep will hear in their message Christ’s own spirit – represented
metaphorically in the gospel reading by the image of “recognizing his
voice”. Then those who are true sheep
will become able through their own reception of the Holy Spirit to follow the
same example in their day to day lives.
Regrettably, few Christians practice forbearance these days. Instead, everyone is concerned with asserting
their rights and obtaining their due.
Since forbearance is such an essential element to the practice of
Christianity, our failure to practice it must have some detrimental consequence. To determine what that might be it is
necessary to consider the image of Christ’s body in full practice of
forbearance – hanging on the cross. Remembering
we are one in the body of Christ, taking our place as members of that body must
involve this practice of forbearance, and failing to practice it must therefore
cause one to lose his/her place therein.
Obtaining the means for practicing this grace is further dependent upon
another factor – receiving the body and blood of Christ. Otherwise one cannot receive the spirit by
which that life is lived, for Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within
you.” (Jn. 6: 53) The life being referred to is simply
“Christ’s life.” Perhaps this is why so
few Christians are able, or willing, to practice forbearance – not having His
life within them!
Do you have His life within you?
Come . . . let’s show the light of His life within us by
practicing forbearance in our daily lives.
Then we too can take our place as full members of the Body of Christ who
are destined to share in His divinity! 
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