Reflection for April 26 Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter: John 10:1-10

Gospel: John 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 he 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, they 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.”

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Reflection:

The story is told about a woman who tried very hard to provide for her three children. She worked very hard for them and she taught them also about the role of God in their lives. Her three children eventually became very successful courtesy of her proper shepherding.  

Jesus wants nothing but the best for us as well this is the reason why He patiently shepherds us. And His end objective is for us to live our lives according to what He desires it for us. However, many of us still veer away from the shepherding of Jesus.  

So what happens to us when we veer away from the shepherding of the Lord? We endlessly labor for this world to acquire its temporal things. Temporal thing that amounts to nothing at the end for the simple reason that it will not satisfy us.  

In our gospel Jesus tells us this: “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture (John 10:9).” If only we would deeply reflect on this statement of the Lord we would find out that it is only thru the Lord that we would discover that it’s only through the shepherding of the Lord that we would find the real meaning of life.  

Would you allow Jesus to shepherd your life from here on? – Marino J. Dasmarinas