May 3, 2025 Written by 

He speaks, he knows, he gives full life, he guards

In today’s Gospel passage (cf. Jn 10:27-30) Jesus is presented to us as the true Shepherd of the People of God. He speaks about the relationship that binds him to the sheep of the flock, namely, to his disciples, and he emphasizes the fact that it is a relationship of mutual recognition. “My sheep” — he says — “hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (vv. 27-28). In carefully reading this phrase, we see that Jesus’ work is explained in several actions: Jesus speaks; Jesus knows; Jesus gives eternal life; Jesus safeguards.

The Good Shepherd — Jesus — is attentive to each one of us; he seeks us and loves us, addresses his Word to us, knowing the depths of our heart, our desires and our hopes, as well as our failures and disappointments. He accepts us and loves us as we are, with our merits and our faults. He “gives eternal life” to each one of us: that is, he offers us the opportunity to live a full life, without end. Moreover, he safeguards us and leads us lovingly, helping us to cross impervious paths and the sometimes dangerous roads that appear in life.

The verbs and actions that describe the way in which Jesus, the Good Shepherd, interacts with us correspond to the verbs that relate to the sheep, namely us: “hear my voice”, “follow me”. They are actions that show how we must correspond to the tender and caring attitudes of the Lord. Indeed, hearing and recognizing his voice, implies intimacy with him, which is strengthened in prayer, in the heart-to-heart encounter with the divine Master and Shepherd of our souls. This intimacy with Jesus, this openness, speaking with Jesus, reinforces in us the desire to follow him, by emerging from the labyrinth of errant ways, abandoning selfish behaviour in order to set out on new paths of fraternity and of self-giving, in imitation of him.

Let us not forget that Jesus is the only Shepherd who speaks to us, knows us, gives us eternal life and safeguards us. We are the only flock and we only have to strive to hear his voice, while he lovingly examines the sincerity of our hearts. And from this constant intimacy with our Shepherd, from this colloquy with him, springs the joy of following him, allowing ourselves to be led to the fullness of eternal life.

Let us now turn to Mary, Mother of Christ the Good Shepherd. May she, who readily responded to God’s call, help in particular those who are called to the priesthood and to consecrated life to joyfully and willingly accept Christ’s call to be his more direct coworkers in proclaiming the Gospel and at the service of the Kingdom of God in this age of ours.

[Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 12 May 2019]

137 Last modified on Saturday, 03 May 2025 03:47
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

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May we obtain this gift [the full unity of all believers in Christ] through the Apostles Peter and Paul, who are remembered by the Church of Rome on this day that commemorates their martyrdom and therefore their birth to life in God. For the sake of the Gospel they accepted suffering and death, and became sharers in the Lord's Resurrection […] Today the Church again proclaims their faith. It is our faith (Pope John Paul II)
Ci ottengano questo dono [la piena unità di tutti i credenti in Cristo] gli Apostoli Pietro e Paolo, che la Chiesa di Roma ricorda in questo giorno, nel quale si fa memoria del loro martirio, e perciò della loro nascita alla vita in Dio. Per il Vangelo essi hanno accettato di soffrire e di morire e sono diventati partecipi della risurrezione del Signore […] Oggi la Chiesa proclama nuovamente la loro fede. E' la nostra fede (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
Family is the heart of the Church. May an act of particular entrustment to the heart of the Mother of God be lifted up from this heart today (John Paul II)
La famiglia è il cuore della Chiesa. Si innalzi oggi da questo cuore un atto di particolare affidamento al cuore della Genitrice di Dio (Giovanni Paolo II)
The liturgy interprets for us the language of Jesus’ heart, which tells us above all that God is the shepherd (Pope Benedict)
La liturgia interpreta per noi il linguaggio del cuore di Gesù, che parla soprattutto di Dio quale pastore (Papa Benedetto)
In the heart of every man there is the desire for a house [...] My friends, this brings about a question: “How do we build this house?” (Pope Benedict)
Nel cuore di ogni uomo c'è il desiderio di una casa [...] Amici miei, una domanda si impone: "Come costruire questa casa?" (Papa Benedetto)
Try to understand the guise such false prophets can assume. They can appear as “snake charmers”, who manipulate human emotions in order to enslave others and lead them where they would have them go (Pope Francis)
Chiediamoci: quali forme assumono i falsi profeti? Essi sono come “incantatori di serpenti”, ossia approfittano delle emozioni umane per rendere schiave le persone e portarle dove vogliono loro (Papa Francesco)
Every time we open ourselves to God's call, we prepare, like John, the way of the Lord among men (John Paul II)
Tutte le volte che ci apriamo alla chiamata di Dio, prepariamo, come Giovanni, la via del Signore tra gli uomini (Giovanni Paolo II)
Paolo VI stated that the world today is suffering above all from a lack of brotherhood: “Human society is sorely ill. The cause is not so much the depletion of natural resources, nor their monopolistic control by a privileged few; it is rather the weakening of brotherly ties between individuals and nations” (Pope Benedict)
Paolo VI affermava che il mondo soffre oggi soprattutto di una mancanza di fraternità: «Il mondo è malato. Il suo male risiede meno nella dilapidazione delle risorse o nel loro accaparramento da parte di alcuni, che nella mancanza di fraternità tra gli uomini e tra i popoli» (Papa Benedetto)
Dear friends, this is the perpetual and living heritage that Jesus has bequeathed to us in the Sacrament of his Body and his Blood. It is an inheritance that demands to be constantly rethought and relived so that, as venerable Pope Paul VI said, its "inexhaustible effectiveness may be impressed upon all the days of our mortal life" (Pope Benedict)

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