(Gv 10,14) R. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I am the good shepherd, says the Lord, I know my sheep, and my sheep know me. R. Hallelujah.
The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. + From the Gospel according to John 10:11-18 At that time, Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. The mercenary - who is not a shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong - sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and flees, and the wolf kidnaps and disperses them, because he is a mercenary and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I give my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that do not come from this enclosure: those too I must lead. They will listen to my voice and become one flock, one shepherd. That is why the Father loves me: because I give my life, and then take it up again. No one takes it away from me: I give it to myself. I have the power to give it and the power to take it back. This is the command I received from my Father. Word of the Lord.
FAUSTI - JESUS is the Shepherd/ Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29), he came to free the sheep and give them life, his life as Son. JESUS identifies himself with the "Beautiful Shepherd". For the shepherd, the sheep are his own: they belong to him and he cares for them as if they were his own life. The mercenary, on the other hand, is worried about his salary: the sheep are at the service of his life, not him of theirs. For this reason he does not expound himself: he acts out of vile interest. At the moment of danger, he escapes from those who have followed him. The wolf, the traditional enemy of the flock, represents the hostile forces of evil. Jesus himself sent his disciples as lambs among the wolves. Every age has its wolves. Sometimes they have first and last names. But for the most part they are anonymous. Then they are more insidious: they indicate the widespread mentality, the false model of man, the "fashion" that snakes and massacres within the flock. The action of kidnapping and dispersion is typical of the enemy, the devil: it kidnaps the man his truth and makes him escape from his life. He does the opposite of the Son, who came to give his life and gather all the missing, reuniting them with himself and with the Father. Call each one by name: "I have called you by name; you belong to me...you are precious to me, you are worthy of esteem and I love you" (IS.43,1-4) The relationship of knowledge and love that exists between Jesus and each of us is the same as that between the Father and Him: "Just as the Father loved me, so I loved you" (15:19). The mutual love between Father and Son, the mystery that is their very life, is the same one that circulates between us and Him. For the Son does not keep it jealously for himself. As he receives it, so he gives it, as he is loved by the Father, so he loves his brothers. John does not say so much that Jesus dies "in the place" of the sheep, but that he gives them his own life. He emphasizes the transmission of the "Glory" from the Son to the brothers. There are also other sheep that are not of this enclosure. "This enclosure" is that of the temple, in which Israel stands. There are other religious or secular "fences" that hold man enslaved. The Son has brothers not only in the people of God, but everywhere: everything has been done through him, light and life of every man, who is a son in the Son. For this reason the Father loves the world (3:16) and the Son, Savior (4:42) and Light of the world (8:12), will be lifted up not only to gather all the scattered of Israel, but for all peoples. Jesus also wants to lead them to freedom. Christianity is universal in nature (Catholic): it excludes no one. If we exclude someone, we deny the Father, who loves each one, and the Son, who is like the Father. The very concept of "mission" has nothing to do with proselytism. It is the Son's inner drive towards his brothers and sisters. It is this love that makes him Pastor of his brothers. The Son did not come to make a single fold, a larger enclosure where everyone could be imprisoned: he pulled the brothers out of every cage, religious or not, to make them live in the law of freedom, which is love and mutual service. The union between churches and between men - the Church is destined for the world - is the same that is found in God. In the one mutual love, Father and Son are one, in the distinction of each one. The Son has a single command from the Father: to give life as he receives it, to love as he is loved. It will be the command he will soon give his disciples (13:34) to share in his life. We lose life anyway. But it is not an emptiness to be lost, to be filled as much as possible with things that will also be lost. It is a void to be rendered, emptied as much as possible of selfishness so that it may be filled with love.
(Gv 10,14)
RispondiEliminaR. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord,
I know my sheep, and my sheep know me.
R. Hallelujah.
The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
+ From the Gospel according to John 10:11-18
At that time, Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. The mercenary - who is not a shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong - sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and flees, and the wolf kidnaps and disperses them, because he is a mercenary and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I give my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that do not come from this enclosure: those too I must lead. They will listen to my voice and become one flock, one shepherd. That is why the Father loves me: because I give my life, and then take it up again. No one takes it away from me: I give it to myself. I have the power to give it and the power to take it back. This is the command I received from my Father.
Word of the Lord.
FAUSTI - JESUS is the Shepherd/ Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29), he came to free the sheep and give them life, his life as Son.
RispondiEliminaJESUS identifies himself with the "Beautiful Shepherd".
For the shepherd, the sheep are his own: they belong to him and he cares for them as if they were his own life. The mercenary, on the other hand, is worried about his salary: the sheep are at the service of his life, not him of theirs. For this reason he does not expound himself: he acts out of vile interest. At the moment of danger, he escapes from those who have followed him.
The wolf, the traditional enemy of the flock, represents the hostile forces of evil.
Jesus himself sent his disciples as lambs among the wolves. Every age has its wolves. Sometimes they have first and last names. But for the most part they are anonymous. Then they are more insidious: they indicate the widespread mentality, the false model of man, the "fashion" that snakes and massacres within the flock. The action of kidnapping and dispersion is typical of the enemy, the devil: it kidnaps the man his truth and makes him escape from his life.
He does the opposite of the Son, who came to give his life and gather all the missing, reuniting them with himself and with the Father.
Call each one by name: "I have called you by name; you belong to me...you are precious to me, you are worthy of esteem and I love you" (IS.43,1-4) The relationship of knowledge and love that exists between Jesus and each of us is the same as that between the Father and Him:
"Just as the Father loved me, so I loved you" (15:19).
The mutual love between Father and Son, the mystery that is their very life,
is the same one that circulates between us and Him.
For the Son does not keep it jealously for himself. As he receives it, so he gives it,
as he is loved by the Father, so he loves his brothers.
John does not say so much that Jesus dies "in the place" of the sheep, but that he gives them his own life. He emphasizes the transmission of the "Glory" from the Son to the brothers.
There are also other sheep that are not of this enclosure. "This enclosure" is that of the temple, in which Israel stands. There are other religious or secular "fences" that hold man enslaved.
The Son has brothers not only in the people of God, but everywhere: everything has been done through him, light and life of every man, who is a son in the Son.
For this reason the Father loves the world (3:16) and the Son, Savior (4:42) and Light of the world (8:12), will be lifted up not only to gather all the scattered of Israel, but for all peoples.
Jesus also wants to lead them to freedom.
Christianity is universal in nature (Catholic): it excludes no one. If we exclude someone, we deny the Father, who loves each one, and the Son, who is like the Father.
The very concept of "mission" has nothing to do with proselytism. It is the Son's inner drive towards his brothers and sisters.
It is this love that makes him Pastor of his brothers.
The Son did not come to make a single fold, a larger enclosure where everyone could be imprisoned: he pulled the brothers out of every cage, religious or not, to make them live in the law of freedom, which is love and mutual service.
The union between churches and between men - the Church is destined for the world - is the same that is found in God. In the one mutual love, Father and Son are one, in the distinction of each one.
The Son has a single command from the Father: to give life as he receives it, to love as he is loved. It will be the command he will soon give his disciples (13:34) to share in his life.
We lose life anyway. But it is not an emptiness to be lost, to be filled as much as possible with things that will also be lost.
It is a void to be rendered, emptied as much as possible of selfishness so that it may be filled with love.