Complete vs Perfect

(Jn 10:22-30)

In the so-called ‘Book of Signs’ of the Fourth Gospel (Jn.1-12), a progressive revelation of the divine Mystery that envelops the Person of Jesus takes place.

As such an unveiling becomes more precise, both adherence and misunderstanding grow around his figure, even of his neighbours - to the extent that He departs from traditional expectations of the Messiah as a glorious leader and executioner.

Thus, in our vocational experience we have often realized that full existence and paths of indestructible quality (vv.28-29) are not subject to immediately satisfying demands of the common mentality.

The Life of the Eternal (v.28) reveals itself as a goad: not to mortify intentions, but to set us on paths of growth.

The Gospel is not confirmation of tastes, of preferences and convictions.

And Jn 10:22-24 applies this criterion blatantly - in the blow by blow friction with the chiefs of conformist religiosity: contradicting the mentality of the experts.

Religious rule developed the idea that the Torah could cleanse the mind of errors, and the inclination of impurities - in order to chisel out a people pleasing to God.

In this way, the authorities felt no need to search for the Mystery of God.

The top of the class wanted Jesus to define himself so that they could judge him according to the fundamentalist criteria that permeated their teaching and common mentality.

The Master, on the other hand, did not place himself in established ideas, into a fixed framework; He was not stuck on a wavelength.

Christ is a fraternal presence for us, not a “ratifier”.

Jesus, the authentic guide, was a «friend of publicans and sinners» in the sense that he taught to broaden the harmony of creaturely being.

The new Rabbi did not want to sterilize emotions or situations.

The inner world and anxieties were not to be silenced at all, but rather encountered and known.

To enter into the life of Faith and become liberators of others, one must be emancipated and tirelessly available, able to shake convictions - starting with oneself.

In short, for those who considered themselves already arrived and masters of the situation, the “new” one always had to present authorizations, credentials, permits - or he would not have the right to speak and act.

Instead, the Lord calls for confidence, unfiltered conversation, collaboration: a propitious climate that allows the Father to reveal himself.

And beyond words, which indeed can always be misunderstood, it is the works of life alone that are eloquent language (v.25).

But it is the soul that does not want to believe: a feeling of those who do not belong to Him (v.26).

The problem is the calibrated eye, or openness. Only the perception of the unsteady is free of affected ballast.

Being One (v.30) has motivated Christ, and still today guides the lesser family members to feel adequate, on an equal footing; He leads them to the Face to face.

Not to disciplinary obedience, but to prophetic likeness.

[Tuesday 4th wk. in Easter, April 28, 2026]

Complete vs Perfect ones

(Jn 10:22-30)

In the so-called Book of Signs of the Fourth Gospel (Jn.1-12) there is a progressive revelation of the divine Mystery that envelops the Person of Jesus.

As this unveiling becomes more precise, both adhesion and incomprehension grow around His figure, even of His neighbours - to the extent that He departs from the traditional expectations of the Messiah, the glorious leader and executioner.

Even in our vocational experience, we have often realised that full existence and paths of indestructible quality (vv.28-29) are not subject to demands immediately satisfying the common mentality.

The Life of the Eternal (v.28) is revealed as a goad: not to mortify intentions, but to set us on paths of growth.

The Gospel is not confirmation of likes, dislikes and convictions.

And Jn 10:22-24 applies this criterion in a blatant manner - in blow by blow friction with the leaders of conformist religiosity: contradicting the mentality of the experts.

The religious rule developed the idea that the Torah could cleanse the mind of errors, and the inclination of people of impurities - in order to chisel out a people pleasing to God.

Anything that disturbed the prescribed balance had to be immediately condemned and punished, as deleterious to fixed stability, mass cohesion, and its very efficiency.

The complete configuration of the indisputable religious proposal, and the magnificence of the official cult structures, guaranteed the eloquence and imperturbability of conditioning (on the misfits).

Doubts and insecurities were immediately branded as disturbing factors in the landscape of reassurance and the profile of normality - to be repressed from adolescence onwards.

The new Rabbi, on the other hand, did not want to sterilise emotions or situations.

The inner world and anxieties were not to be silenced at all, but to be encountered and known.

On the other hand, [as we do today] looking around he realised that it was precisely in observant people, the standard-bearers of ethics or manners, who repressed spontaneous impulses or, conversely, profound criteria, that narrowness and disorders increased.

Precisely those who faced the spiritual path... by increasing dirigisme, manners and control, became exaggeratedly snobbish, confrontational and secretly untrustworthy.

Burdened with suffocating norms, the naive people were reduced to unhappiness.

Everyone felt restlessness and parchedness - precisely because the obsession with sin poured out on the unwell, preventing them from integrating their desires.

In short, what had to be reduced and annihilated for reasons of social, civil, devout consonance, ended up penetrating souls in a more intimate manner, resurfacing here and there in a paradoxical manner, with duplicity and very serious relational imbalances.

Authentic Jesus the Guide was a 'friend of publicans and sinners' in the sense that He taught to expand the harmony of creaturely being.

He himself wanted to learn the art of looking without prejudice, and to treasure various experiences; of all that could emerge even from within.

The perfection he preached to others was in the imperfection of selflessness, in the irrationality of love, in the absurdity of pure gift-giving and tolerance, which gleaned pearls of experience from everywhere.

Indeed, according to the True Shepherd, it was important precisely to be troubled, rather than impassive.

All in order to know in time and make sense even of the signs that worry [even according to a pious, or à la page, and aligned mentality] - thus completing ourselves.

Learning to welcome, not to establish.

The authentic Master and Friend knows that ... Only what touches, involves, and upsets us personally will succeed in shifting our gaze, to grow. To activate exodus to fertile pastures, the land of freedom.

The Feast of the Dedication [Feast of Lights] was being celebrated, a commemoration of the purification of the Temple, consecration and dedication of a new altar [following the Hellenist desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who had forced his hand by imposing the cult to Olympian Zeus in that place].

The debate with the institutional masters takes place as usual in Solomon's Portico - each time trying to educate them to let go of their sense of inquisition and domination, still unbearable today.

The authorities felt no need to seek the Mystery of God.

In this way, the leaders wanted Jesus to define himself, so that they could judge him according to the criteria of their abstract world; which impregnated their teaching and common mentality.

On the contrary, the Master even for us today does not place himself in the armour of established ideas, in a pre-established, contrived, external framework.

He does not stagnate, stuck on a wavelength; as if he were fearful of the unknown - hence for us the bearer of a non-alarming devotion.

Christ is a fraternal presence, certainly - not a 'ratifier'.To enter the life of Faith and become liberators of others, one must be emancipated and tirelessly available, able to shake up convictions - starting with oneself.

In short, for those who consider themselves arrived and masters of the situation, the new must present the imprint of authorisations, credentials, permissions - or one has no right to speak and act.

Instead, the Lord calls for confidence, for conversation, for collaboration: a propitious climate that allows the Father to reveal himself.

He only rejects fanaticism, sophisticated, cerebral, mannered, and one-sided thinking.

In short, Jesus did not want to be mistaken for 'the' [that] expected political Messiah: resembling David. That is why it requires the so-called messianic secret.

And beyond words, which indeed can always be misunderstood, it is the works of life alone that are eloquent language (v.25).

But it is the soul that did not want to believe: the feeling of those who do not belong to him (v.26).

In fact, sincere Faith is activated from a first testimony within, in the being, in one's own character and creaturely imprint (Jn 6:44).

(Vv.25-26) If you do not lead people to think differently, giving evidence is of no use. The problem is the shaky eye, or openness. And it is only the perception of the unhealthy that is free of interested ballast.

The mutual understanding between Jesus and the least of the people is complete transparency, total harmony even on the basis of an elementary sympathy: the natural Way that unites Father and sons.

All this, starting from a sure testimony in oneself, not from a preconceived religious rationalism.

Being One (v.30) motivated Christ, and still leads the voiceless to feel adequate, equal.

It leads them to face-to-face, without the need for models, rigmarole, legalisms, affected manners.

Not disciplinary obedience, but prophetic likeness.

It annoys us to be compared to a flock, but in ancient Israel the archetype of the shepherd who shares everything with his sheep remained even in Jesus' time a prototype of existence and life of communion with God.

The metaphor must be understood in the sense of the family relationship, of total sharing: feeling the burden and the goals together; grasping the spirit of each one and seeing the qualities, or providing for them; trusting even in destitution.

In the life of Faith, the guiding specialists should introduce us into this special relationship with the Father who knows each of his kinsmen, and redeems their loneliness or vice versa.

Immediacy and personal freedom in love are the cornerstone of the new relationship with the Most High.

A frankness that Jesus teaches without looking anyone in the face who is still enraptured by worldly elements - let alone being intimidated by marauders (vv.1.5.8.10.12-13) in angelic garb.

His Word and extreme events are still the Gates that lead [radically] to Heaven and humanity.

All this despite the fact that his Message is considered crazy and demonic by those interested in the status quo (vv.20-21).

Conversely, by crossing all the expected thresholds, in our imbalances we penetrate the furrows of reality and mystery; we introduce ourselves there where royal decisions ripen - finding surpassing fascination.

Perfect correspondence with our vocational trait and yearning for the fullness of life.

Knowledge of the heart

Jesus speaks of himself as the Good Shepherd who gives eternal life to his sheep (cf. Jn 10:28). That of the shepherd is an image well rooted in the Old Testament and dear to the Christian tradition. The title "Shepherd of Israel" is attributed by the Prophets to the future descendant of David, and thus possesses undoubted messianic significance (cf. Ez 34:23). Jesus is the true Shepherd of Israel, in that he is the Son of Man who wanted to share the condition of human beings in order to give them new life and lead them to salvation. Significantly to the term "shepherd" the evangelist adds the adjective kalós, beautiful, which he uses solely in reference to Jesus and his mission. Also in the story of the wedding feast of Cana, the adjective kalós is used twice to connote the wine offered by Jesus and it is easy to see in it the symbol of the good wine of the messianic times (cf. Jn 2:10).

"I give them (my sheep) eternal life, and they shall never be lost" (Jn 10:28). So says Jesus, who shortly before had said: "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (cf. Jn 10:11). John uses the verb tithénai - to offer, which he repeats in the following verses (15.17.18); we find the same verb in the account of the Last Supper, when Jesus "laid down" his garments and then "took them up again" (cf. Jn 13:4.12). It is clear that he wants to affirm in this way that the Redeemer disposes of his life with absolute freedom, so that he can offer it and then take it back freely. Christ is the true Good Shepherd who gave his life for his sheep, for us, by sacrificing himself on the Cross. He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him, just as the Father knows Him and He knows the Father (cf. Jn 10:14-15). It is not a matter of mere intellectual knowledge, but of a deep personal relationship; a knowledge of the heart, proper to the one who loves and the one who is loved; of the one who is faithful and the one who knows that he can be trusted in turn; a knowledge of love by virtue of which the Shepherd invites his own to follow him, and which is fully manifested in the gift he gives them of eternal life (cf. Jn 10:27-28).

[Pope Benedict, homily for priestly ordination 29 April 2007]

The Gospel [...] is only a part of Jesus' great discourse on shepherds. In this passage, the Lord tells us three things about the true shepherd:  he gives his own life for his sheep; he knows them and they know him; he is at the service of unity.

Before reflecting on these three characteristics essential to shepherds, it might be useful to recall briefly the previous part of the discourse on shepherds in which Jesus, before designating himself as the Shepherd, says, to our surprise:  "I am the door" (Jn 10: 7).

It is through him that one must enter the service of shepherd. Jesus highlights very clearly this basic condition by saying:  "he who... climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber" (Jn 10: 1). This word "climbs" - anabainei in Greek - conjures up the image of someone climbing over a fence to get somewhere out of bounds to him.

"To climb" - here too we can also see the image of careerism, the attempt to "get ahead", to gain a position through the Church:  to make use of and not to serve. It is the image of a man who wants to make himself important, to become a person of note through the priesthood; the image of someone who has as his aim his own exaltation and not the humble service of Jesus Christ.

But the only legitimate ascent towards the shepherd's ministry is the Cross. This is the true way to rise; this is the true door. It is not the desire to become "someone" for oneself, but rather to exist for others, for Christ, and thus through him and with him to be there for the people he seeks, whom he wants to lead on the path of life.

One enters the priesthood through the Sacrament, and this means precisely:  through the gift of oneself to Christ, so that he can make use of me; so that I may serve him and follow his call, even if it proves contrary to my desire for self-fulfilment and esteem.

Entering by the door which is Christ means knowing and loving him more and more, so that our will may be united with his will, our action become one with his action.

Dear friends, let us pray ever anew for this intention, let us strive precisely for this:  in other words, for Christ to grow within us and for our union with him to become ever deeper, so that through us it is Christ himself who tends the flock.

Let us now take a closer look at the three fundamental affirmations of Jesus on the good shepherd. The first one, which very forcefully pervades the whole discourse on shepherds, says:  the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The mystery of the Cross is at the centre of Jesus' service as a shepherd:  it is the great service that he renders to all of us.

He gives himself and not only in a distant past. In the Holy Eucharist he does so every day, he gives himself through our hands, he gives himself to us. For this good reason the Holy Eucharist, in which the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross remains continually present, truly present among us, is rightly at the centre of priestly life.

And with this as our starting point, we also learn what celebrating the Eucharist properly means:  it is an encounter with the Lord, who strips himself of his divine glory for our sake, allows himself be humiliated to the point of death on the Cross and thus gives himself to each one of us.

The daily Eucharist is very important for the priest. In it he exposes himself ever anew to this mystery; ever anew he puts himself in God's hands, experiencing at the same time the joy of knowing that He is present, receives me, ever anew raises and supports me, gives me his hand, himself. The Eucharist must become for us a school of life in which we learn to give our lives.
Free for God

Life is not only given at the moment of death and not only in the manner of martyrdom. We must give it day by day. Day after day it is necessary to learn that I do not possess my life for myself. Day by day I must learn to abandon myself; to keep myself available for whatever he, the Lord, needs of me at a given moment, even if other things seem more appealing and more important to me:  it means giving life, not taking it.

It is in this very way that we experience freedom:  freedom from ourselves, the vastness of being. In this very way, by being useful, in being a person whom the world needs, our life becomes important and beautiful. Only those who give up their own life find it.

Secondly the Lord tells us:  "I know my own [sheep] and my own [sheep] know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father" (Jn 10: 14-15).

Here, two apparently quite different relationships are interwoven in this phrase:  the relationship between Jesus and the Father and the relationship between Jesus and the people entrusted to him. Yet both these relationships go together, for in the end people belong to the Father and are in search of the Creator, of God.

When they realize that someone is speaking only in his own name and drawing from himself alone, they guess that he is too small and cannot be what they are seeking; but wherever another's voice re-echoes in a person, the voice of the Creator, of the Father, the door opens to the relationship for which the person is longing.

Consequently, this is how it must be in our case. First of all, in our hearts we must live the relationship with Christ and, through him, with the Father; only then can we truly understand people, only in the light of God can the depths of man be understood. Then those who are listening to us realize that we are not speaking of ourselves or of some thing, but of the true Shepherd.

Obviously, Jesus' words also contain the entire practical pastoral task, caring for men and women, going to seek them out, being open to their needs and questions.

Obviously, practical, concrete knowledge of the people entrusted to me is fundamental, and obviously, it is important to understand this way of "knowing" others in the biblical sense:  there is no true knowledge without love, without an inner relationship and deep acceptance of the other.
The shepherd cannot be satisfied with knowing names and dates. His way of knowing his sheep must always also be knowing with the heart.

However, it is only possible to do this properly if the Lord has opened our hearts; if our knowing does not bind people to our own small, private self, to our own small heart, but rather makes them aware of the Heart of Jesus, the Heart of the Lord. It must be knowing with the Heart of Jesus, oriented to him, a way of knowing that does not bind the person to me but guides him or her to Jesus, thereby making one free and open. And in this way we too will become close to men and women.

Let us always pray to the Lord anew that we may be granted this way of knowing with the Heart of Jesus, of not binding to me but of binding to the Heart of Jesus and thereby creating a true community.

Lastly, the Lord speaks to us of the service of unity that is entrusted to the shepherd:  "I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd" (Jn 10: 16).

John repeated the same thing after the Sanhedrin had decided to kill Jesus, when Caiaphas said that it would be better for the people that one man die for them rather than the entire nation perish. John recognized these words of Caiaphas as prophetic, adding:  "Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" (11: 52).

The relationship between the Cross and unity is revealed:  the Cross is the price of unity. Above all, however, it is the universal horizon of Jesus' action that emerges.

If, in his prophecy about the shepherd, Ezekiel was aiming to restore unity among the dispersed tribes of Israel (cf. Ez 34: 22-24), here it is a question not only of the unification of a dispersed Israel but of the unification of all the children of God, of humanity - of the Church of Jews and of pagans.

Jesus' mission concerns all humanity. Therefore, the Church is given responsibility for all humanity, so that it may recognize God, the God who for all of us was made man in Jesus Christ, suffered, died and was raised.

The Church must never be satisfied with the ranks of those whom she has reached at a certain point or say that others are fine as they are:  Muslims, Hindus and so forth. The Church can never retreat comfortably to within the limits of her own environment. She is charged with universal solicitude; she must be concerned with and for one and all.

We generally have to "translate" this great task in our respective missions. Obviously, a priest, a pastor of souls, must first and foremost be concerned with those who believe and live with the Church, who seek in her their way of life and on their part, like living stones, build the Church, hence, also build and support the priest.

However, we must also - as the Lord says - go out ever anew "to the highways and hedges" (Lk 14: 23), to deliver God's invitation to his banquet also to those who have so far heard nothing or have not been stirred within.

This universal service has many forms. One of them is also the commitment to the inner unity of the Church, so that over and above differences and limitations she may be a sign of God's presence in the world, which alone can create this unity.

Among the sculptures of her time, the ancient Church discovered the figure of a shepherd carrying a sheep across his shoulders. Such images may perhaps be part of the idyllic dream of rural life that fascinated the society of that epoch.

For Christians, however, this figure with all its naturalness became the image of the One who set out to seek his lost sheep:  humanity; the image of the One who follows us even into our deserts and confusion; the image of the One who took upon his shoulders the lost sheep, which is humanity, and carried it home.

It has become the image of the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Let us entrust ourselves to him. We entrust you to him, dear brothers, especially at this moment, so that he may lead you and carry you all the days of your life; so that he may help you to become, through him and with him, good shepherds of his flock. Amen!

[Pope Benedict, presbyteral ordination homily 7 May 2006]

2. It may not always be conscious and clear, but in the human heart there is a deep nostalgia for God. St. Ignatius of Antioch expressed this eloquently: “There is in me a living water that murmurs within me: 'Come to the Father'” (Ad Rom.7). “Lord, show me your glory”, Moses begged on the mountain (Ex 33:18) [...].

Bringing us the direct witness of the life of the Son of God, John’s Gospel points out the road to follow in order to know the Father. Calling upon the “Father” is the secret, the breath, the life of Jesus. Is he not the only Son, the first-born, the loved one towards whom everything is directed, present to the Father even before the world existed, sharing in his same glory? (cf. Jn 17:5). From the Father Jesus receives power over all things (cf. Jn 17:2), the message to be proclaimed (cf. Jn 12:49), the work to be accomplished (cf. Jn 14:31). The disciples themselves do not belong to him: it is the Father who has given them to him (cf. Jn 17:9), entrusting him with the task of keeping them from evil, so that none should be lost (cf. Jn 18:9).

[Pope John Paul II, Message for the 14th WYD]

Today’s passage records these words of Jesus: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (10:27-30). These four verses contain the whole of Jesus’ message; it is the nucleus of his Gospel: he calls us to share in his relationship with the Father, and this is eternal life.

Jesus wants to establish with his friends a relationship which mirrors his own relationship with the Father: a relationship of reciprocal belonging in full trust, in intimate communion. To express this profound understanding, this relationship of friendship, Jesus uses the image of the shepherd with his sheep: he calls them and they recognize his voice, they respond to his call and follow him. This parable is very beautiful! The mystery of his voice is evocative: only think that from our mother’s womb we learn to recognize her voice and that of our father; it is from the tone of a voice that we perceive love or contempt, affection or coldness. Jesus’ voice is unique! If we learn to distinguish it, he guides us on the path of life, a path that goes beyond even the abyss of death.

However Jesus, at a certain point, said: “my Father, who has given them to me...” (Jn 10:29), referring to his sheep. This is very important, it is a profound mystery, far from easy to understand. If I feel drawn to Jesus, if his voice warms my heart, it is thanks to God the Father who has sown within me the desire for love, for truth, for life, for beauty... and Jesus is all this in fullness! This helps us understand the mystery of vocation and especially of the call to a special consecration. Sometimes Jesus calls us, he invites us to follow him, but perhaps we do not realize that it is he who is calling, like what happened to the young Samuel. There are many young people today, here in the Square. There are large numbers of you aren’t there? It’s clear.... Look! Here in the Square today there are so many of you! I would like to ask you: have you sometimes heard the Lord’s voice, in a desire, in a worry, did he invite you to follow him more closely? Have you heard him? I can’t hear you? There! Have you wanted to be apostles of Jesus? We must bet on youth for the great ideals. Do you think this? Do you agree? Ask Jesus what he wants of you and be brave! Be brave! Ask him this!

Behind and before every vocation to the priesthood or to the consecrated life there is always the strong and intense prayer of someone: a grandmother, a grandfather, a mother, a father, a community.... This is why Jesus said: “Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest”, that is, God the Father, “to send out labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38). Vocations are born in prayer and from prayer; and only through prayer can they persevere and bear fruit.

[Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 21 April 2013]

The defence of the little flock, and the whole People becoming Shepherds

(Jn 10:11-18)

At the beginning of chapter 10 Jn lays bare the difference between the true shepherd and the thief [rapacious and profiteering false leaders who do not care about the lives of others].

The authentic leader cares for the little flock, exposes himself to defend it and make it prosper; he leads it to water, and to green pastures.

Thus, from the initial simile of the Gate, Jesus moves on to the comparison of the Shepherd who defends the wandering flock and easy prey to bullies.

People instinctively grasp who is the true guide, in the variations of season and transhumance: they have an immediate, vibrant existential perception.

Women and men of the people always have a far more reliable practical discernment than the artificial, contemptuous discernment of the official authorities they suppose themselves to have.

None of them would give or risk anything for the life of the flock entrusted to them, whom they considered ignorant, marked for life; cursed (Jn 7:49. 9:34).

On the strength of this fineness of concrete intelligence, here is the goal at which Jesus aims in the gift of himself: it is the flock itself that will become Shepherd (v.16b).

So also Christ's flock-shepherd will not dodge the blows, nor will he be passive and conformist - but like Him: bold and outspoken.

This surprise adds a further opening of horizon, which we would call universal ecclesiology.

A disturbing prospect for opportunists and those satiated by the “buildings” set up by religion - and its induced trade - alarmed only by those constructed in the Faith.

But the Lord snatches us from the wolves.

Moreover, he does not limit himself to the crowds that are close to him.

The call and care of the authentic Shepherd crosses any boundary; not just the artificial and crafty one of the Temple.

God's vocation concerns even people still far from sacred precincts (v.16a Greek text), who are also considered necessary and full members of his People.

The new principle of belonging is Listening (v.3): immediacy even of one's own intimate and natural life instincts.

This is worth more than a soul already cleansed of error, or a flawless crowd.

Such is the creaturely and spontaneous prelude of mutual Communion [conviviality of differences] that supplants ancient religious affiliations.

«The Shepherd, the beautiful one, lays down his life for the sheep» (v.11): He has a style that overturns the greedy, pyramidal chain of command.

The Living Faith fraternities had well understood that existing in the Spirit of Christ and the life of the soul had unexpected implications - completely incompatible with the attachment to the ephemeral that the official authorities allowed themselves.

The irreverent Lucian of Samosata (120-190) gives a very significant glimpse of this originality - still in its infancy - which brings out the simplicity, the climate of mutual trust and the quality of life of the first believers, led by the good example of community leaders.

The well-known satirical author, who was opposed to superstitions and credulity among which he counted Christianity, bears indirect and paradoxical testimony to why the unexpected proposal of Sharing from the church co-ordinators - so alternative, incomprehensibly magnanimous and liberal - was recognised.

In light-hearted language that still makes us think of the distance to the ideal, despite the millennia that have passed - the ancient Greek-Syrian writer acutely described the concrete impact of the Faith in the true God, which he noticed was becoming increasingly widespread among the people.

Jesus wanted the establishment of an alternative society - non top-down, not exclusive, rather capable of happy Coexistence - the people's heart could be leveraged, starting with the testimony of authentic ‘teachers’.

In «The Death of Peregrinus» [De morte Peregrini, 13] the 2nd century polemicist expresses himself thus:

«Their first Lawgiver persuades them that they are all brothers to each other, and as they convert, denying the Greek gods, they worship that wise man crucified, and live according to his laws. For such they despise all goods equally and believe them to be common and do not care when they have them. Therefore if a shrewd impostor arose among them who knew how to handle them well, he would immediately become rich, mocking these gullible and foolish people».

It seemed madness for the ideal of the Hellenist, individualist and self-made man, as well as for the very image of a friend of God deserving of glory and courtesies - therefore his protégé in 'blessings” [a conviction that unfortunately remains almost unchanged].

But as can be seen between the lines, the new ‘guides’ in Christ were indeed beginning to supplant the credibility of other leaders who were more renowned in culture, yet far less interested in the reality of people.

In the lives of ‘Christians’, a balance, a coming together, a well-being and a «Way of wholeness» quite different from that of the ancient sterilised, one-sided 'perfection' became evident.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, dear Ordinands

At this hour in which you, dear friends, through the Sacrament of Priestly Ordination, are being introduced as shepherds into the service of the great Shepherd Jesus Christ, it is the Lord himself who in the Gospel speaks to us of service to the flock of God. The image of the shepherd comes from afar. In the ancient East, kings used to designate themselves as shepherds of their peoples. In the Old Testament Moses and David, before being called to become leaders and shepherds of the People of God, had actually been shepherds of flocks. In the travails of the period of exile, faced with the failure of the shepherds of Israel, that is, of the political and religious leaders, Ezekiel had traced the image of God himself as the Shepherd of his people. God says through the prophet: "As a shepherd reviews his flock ..., so I will review my sheep and gather them from all the places where they were scattered in the days of cloud and gloom" (Ez 34:12). Now Jesus announces that this hour has come: he himself is the Good Shepherd in whom God himself cares for his creature, man, gathering human beings and leading them to the true pasture. St Peter, to whom the risen Lord had given the task of shepherding His sheep, of becoming a shepherd with Him and for Him, describes Jesus as the "archipoimen" - the archpastor (cf. 1 Peter 5:4), and by this he means that one can only be a shepherd of the flock of Jesus Christ through Him and in the most intimate communion with Him. It is precisely this that is expressed in the Sacrament of Ordination: the priest through the Sacrament is totally incorporated into Christ so that, starting from Him and acting in view of Him, he carries out in communion with Him the service of the one Shepherd Jesus, in whom God, as man, wants to be our Shepherd.

The Gospel we have heard on this Sunday is only a part of Jesus' great discourse on shepherds. In this passage the Lord tells us three things about the true shepherd: he lays down his life for the sheep; he knows them and they know him; he is at the service of unity. Before reflecting on these three essential characteristics of being a shepherd, it will perhaps be useful to recall briefly the previous part of the discourse on shepherds in which Jesus, before designating Himself as Shepherd, says to our surprise: "I am the door" (Jn 10:7). It is through Him that one must enter into the shepherding service. Jesus emphasises this basic condition very clearly by saying: "Whoever... goes up another way is a thief and a robber" (Jn 10:1). This word 'climb' - 'anabainei' in Greek - conjures up the image of someone climbing over the fence to reach, by climbing over, where he legitimately could not reach. "Rising" - we can also see here the image of careerism, of the attempt to get "to the top", to get a position through the Church: serving, not serving. It is the image of the man who, through the priesthood, wants to make himself important, to become a personage; the image of the man who aims at his own exaltation and not at the humble service of Jesus Christ. But the only legitimate ascent to the shepherd's ministry is the cross. This is the true ascent, this is the true door. Not to desire to become someone personally, but instead to be there for the other, for Christ, and thus through Him and with Him to be there for the men He seeks, whom He wants to lead on the path of life. One enters the priesthood through the Sacrament - and that means precisely: through the donation of oneself to Christ, so that He disposes of me; so that I serve Him and follow His call, even if this should be at odds with my desires for self-fulfilment and esteem. To enter through the door, which is Christ, is to know him and love him more and more, so that our will may be united with his and our actions become one with his actions. Dear friends, for this intention we want to pray again and again, we want to strive for precisely this, that Christ may grow in us, that our union with Him may become ever deeper, so that through us it is Christ Himself who shepherds.

Let us now look more closely at Jesus' three fundamental statements about the good shepherd. The first, which with great force pervades the whole discourse on shepherds, says: the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The mystery of the Cross lies at the heart of Jesus' service as shepherd: it is the great service He renders to us all. He gives himself, and not just in the distant past. In the sacred Eucharist he does this every day, he gives himself through our hands, he gives himself to us. For this reason, with good reason, at the centre of priestly life is the sacred Eucharist, in which Jesus' sacrifice on the cross remains continually present, truly among us. And from this we also learn what it means to celebrate the Eucharist properly: it is an encounter with the Lord who for our sake strips himself of his divine glory, allows himself to be humiliated to the point of death on a cross, and thus gives himself to each one of us. The daily Eucharist is very important for the priest, in which he exposes himself again and again to this mystery; again and again he places himself in God's hands while experiencing the joy of knowing that He is present, He welcomes me, again and again He lifts me up and carries me, He gives me His hand, Himself. The Eucharist must become a school of life for us, in which we learn to give our life. Life is not only given at the moment of death, not only in the way of martyrdom. We must give it day by day. One must learn day by day that I do not possess my life for myself. Day by day I must learn to surrender myself; to make myself available for that thing for which He, the Lord, needs me at the moment, even if other things seem more beautiful and more important to me. Give life, not take it. It is precisely in this way that we experience freedom. Freedom from ourselves, the vastness of being. Precisely so, in being useful, in being a person who is needed in the world, our life becomes important and beautiful. Only he who gives his life, finds it.

Secondly, the Lord tells us: "I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father" (John 10: 14-15). Two apparently entirely different relationships are intertwined here: the relationship between Jesus and the Father, and the relationship between Jesus and the men entrusted to Him. But both relationships go right together, because men, after all, belong to the Father and are in search of the Creator, of God. When they realise that one only speaks in one's own name and draws only from oneself, then they realise that it is too little and that he cannot be what they are looking for. Where, however, another voice resounds in a person, the voice of the Creator, of the Father, the door to the relationship that man awaits opens. So it must be in our case. First of all, we must live our relationship with Christ and through him with the Father; only then can we truly understand men, only in the light of God can we understand the depth of man. Then the listener realises that we are not talking about us, about something, but about the true Shepherd. Obviously, also encapsulated in Jesus' words is the whole practical pastoral task, to follow people, to visit them, to be open for their needs and questions. Obviously practical, concrete knowledge of the people entrusted to me is essential, and obviously it is important to understand this 'knowing' of others in the biblical sense: there is no true knowledge without love, without an inner relationship, without a deep acceptance of the other. The shepherd cannot be content with knowing names and dates. His knowing the sheep must always also be a knowing with the heart. This, however, is only possible in the end if the Lord has opened our hearts; if our knowing does not bind people to our own little private self, to our own little heart, but instead makes them feel the heart of Jesus, the heart of the Lord. It must be a knowing with the heart of Jesus and oriented towards Him, a knowing that does not bind man to me, but guides him towards Jesus, thus making him free and open. And so we too among men become neighbours. So that this way of knowing with the heart of Jesus, of not binding to me but binding to the heart of Jesus and thus creating true community, that this may be given to us, we want to pray to the Lord again and again.

Finally, the Lord speaks to us of the service of unity entrusted to the shepherd: "I have other sheep that are not of this fold; these also I must lead; they shall hear my voice and become one flock and one shepherd" (John 10: 16). It is the same thing that John repeats after the Sanhedrin's decision to kill Jesus, when Caiaphas said that it would be better if only one died for the people than for the whole nation to perish. John recognises in this word of Caiaphas a prophetic word and adds: "Jesus had to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather together the children of God who were scattered" (11:52). The relationship between the Cross and unity is revealed; unity is paid for with the Cross. Above all, however, the universal horizon of Jesus' action emerges. If Ezekiel in his prophecy about the shepherd was aiming at the restoration of unity among the dispersed tribes of Israel (cf. Ez 34:22-24), it is now no longer only about the unification of dispersed Israel, but about the unification of all God's children, of humanity - of the Church of Jews and Gentiles. Jesus' mission concerns the whole of humanity, and therefore the Church is given a responsibility for the whole of humanity, so that it may recognise God, that God who, for all of us, in Jesus Christ became man, suffered, died and rose again. The Church must never be content with the ranks of those it has reached at some point, and say that the others are just fine: the Muslims, the Hindus, and so on. The Church cannot retreat comfortably within the limits of its own environment. He is charged with universal concern, he must be concerned for all and of all. This great task in general we must 'translate' into our respective missions. Obviously, a priest, a pastor of souls, must first and foremost concern himself with those who believe in and live with the Church, who seek in it the path of life, and who for their part, like living stones, build up the Church and thus also build up and sustain the priest. However, we must also always again - as the Lord says - go out "into the streets and along the hedges" (Lk 14:23) to bring God's invitation to his banquet also to those people who have not yet heard of it, or have not yet been inwardly touched by it. This universal service, service for unity, has many forms. Always part of this is also the commitment to the inner unity of the Church, so that it, beyond all diversity and limitations, is a sign of God's presence in the world, which alone can create such unity.

The early Church found in the sculpture of its time the figure of the shepherd carrying a sheep on his shoulders. Perhaps these images are part of the idyllic dream of country life that fascinated society at the time. But for Christians, this figure naturally became the image of the One who set out to seek the lost sheep: humanity; the image of the One who follows us even into our deserts and confusions; the image of the One who took the lost sheep, which is humanity, on his shoulders and brings it home. It has become the image of the true Shepherd Jesus Christ. To Him we entrust ourselves. To him we entrust you, dear brothers, especially at this hour, that he may lead and carry you every day; that he may help you to become, through him and with him, good shepherds of his flock. Amen!

[Pope Benedict, homily for the priestly ordination of deacons, 7 May 2006]

Christ says: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11). We know that these words were confirmed during his passion. Christ laid down his life on the cross. And he did so with love. Above all, he wished to respond to the love of the Father, who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal fife" (Jn 3:16). Carrying out "this charge... received from my Father" (Jn 10:18) and revealing his love, Jesus, too, felt, in a particular way, the Father's own love. He affirms this in the same discourse, when he says: "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again" (Jn 10:17). The sacrifice on Calvary is, above all, the giving of himself; it is the gift of his life, which, remaining in the power of the Father, is restored to the Son in a splendid new form. In this way, therefore, the Resurrection is the same gift of life re-stored to the Son in return for his sacrifice. Christ is aware of this, and he expresses it also in the allegory of the Good Shepherd: "No one takes it (that is, life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (Jn 10:18).

These words plainly refer to the Resurrection, and they express all the depth of the paschal mystery.

2.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd because of the fact that he gives his life to the Father in this way: giving it back in sacrifice, he lays it down for the sheep.

Here we enter the field of a splendid and fascinating simile, already so dear to the Old Testament prophets. Here are the words of Ezekiel:

"For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out... I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down" (Ez 34:11, 15; cf. Jer 31:30).

Taking up this image again, Jesus revealed an aspect of the Good Shepherd's love that the Old Testament had not yet divined: to lay down one's life for the sheep.

As is known, Jesus often used parables in his teaching to make the divine truth which he proclaimed comprehensible to men who were generally simple and accustomed to think by means of images. The image of the Pastor and of the fold was familiar to the experience of his listeners, as it still is to the mind of modern man. Even if civilization and technique are progressing by leaps and bounds, this image, however, is still present in our state of affairs. The shepherds take the sheep to the pastures (as, for example, on the Polish mountains where I come from) and remain there with them during the summer. They accompany them from one pasture to another. They watch them so that they do not go astray, and in particular they defend them from wild animals; just as we hear in the Gospel account: "the wolf snatches them (the sheep) and scatters them" (cf. Jn. 10:1.2).

The Good Shepherd, according to Christ's words, is just he who, "seeing the wolf come", does not flee, but is ready to risk his own life, struggling with the beast of prey so that none of the sheep will be lost. If he were not ready to do so, he would not be worthy of the name of Good Shepherd. He would he a hireling, but not a shepherd.

This is Jesus' allegorical discourse. Its essential meaning lies precisely in this, that "the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11); and this, in the context of the events of Holy Week, means that Jesus, dying on the cross, laid dawn his life for every man and for all men.

"He alone could do it; he alone could bear a whole world's weight, the load of a guilty world, the burden of man's sin, the accumulated debt, past, present, and to come; the sufferings which we owed but could not pay; 'in his own body on the tree of the cross' (1 Pet 2:24) 'through the eternal spirit offering himself without spot to God... to serve the living God' (Heb 9:14). Such was the deed of Christ, who gave his life for everyone: and therefore he is called the Good Shepherd" (Card. J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, 16, London 1899, p. 235).

By means of the paschal sacrifice, all men became his fold—because he has ensured to each one that divine and supernatural life which, since man's fall, owing to original sin, had been lost. He alone was able to restore it to man.

3.  The allegory of the Good Shepherd and, in it, the image of the fold, are of fundamental importance to understand what the Church is and what tasks she has to carry out in the history of man. Not only must the Church be a "fold", but she must actualize this mystery, which is always being accomplished between Christ and man: the mystery of the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep. This is what St Augustine says of her: "will he, who sought you first when you despised him instead of seeking him, despise you, O sheep, if you seek him? Begin, therefore, to seek him, the one who sought you first and carried you on his shoulders. Make his words come true: The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice and follow me" (Enarrationes in Psalmos, Ps LXIX, 6).

The Church, which is the People of God, is, at the same time, a historical and social reality, in which this mystery is continually renewed and actualized in different ways. And different men have their active part in this solicitude for the salvation of the world, for the sanctification of one's neighbour, which is and does not cease to be the solicitude characteristic of the Crucified and Risen Christ. Such is certainly, for example, the solicitude of parents with regard to their children. What is more, it is the solicitude of every Christian, without any difference, with regard to his neighbour, the brothers and sisters that God puts on his way.

This pastoral solicitude is, of course, particularly the vocation of pastors—priests and bishops. And they in particular must fix their eyes on the figure of the Good Shepherd, meditate on all the words spoken by Christ, and measure their own life by them.

Let us permit St Augustine to speak once more: "If only good shepherds be not lacking! Far be it from us that they should be lacking, and far be it from divine mercy not to call them forth and establish them. It is certain that if there are good sheep, there are also good shepherds: in fact it is from good sheep that good shepherds are derived." (Sermones ad populum, Sermo XLIV, XIII, 30).

4.  In accordance with the evangelical discourse on the Good Shepherd, the Church reconstructs every year in her own liturgy the life and death of St Stanislaus, Bishop of Krakow. His memory in the liturgical calendar of the Universal Church is celebrated on 11 April—the date of his death in 1079 at the hands of King Boleslas the Bold; in Poland, on the other hand, the feast of this principal Patron is traditionally celebrated on 8 May.

This year it is 900 years, nine centuries, since the moment in which—following the liturgical texts—we can repeat of him that he laid down his life for his sheep (cf. Jn 10:11). And even if this death is so distant from us in time, it keeps the eloquence of a special testimony.

In the course of history my fellow citizens united spiritually round the figure of St Stanislaus, especially in difficult periods.

In the current year, a year of Great Jubilee, as the first Polish Pope, who until a short time ago was the successor of St Stanislaus in the episcopal see of Krakow, I wish to participate in the solemnity in honour of the Patron Saint of Poland.

Together with all those who celebrate this solemnity we wish to approach again Christ the Good Shepherd, who "lays down his life for the sheep", in order that he may be our strength for future centuries and for the new generations.

[Papa Giovanni Paolo II, Udienza Generale 9 maggio 1979]

On this Fourth Sunday of Easter, called Good Shepherd Sunday, the Gospel (Jn 10:11-18) presents Jesus as the true shepherd who defends, knows and loves his sheep.

The “mercenary”, the one who does not care about the sheep because they are not his, is the opposite of the Good Shepherd. He does the job only for pay and is not concerned about defending them: when a wolf arrives, he flees and abandons them (cf vv. 12-13). Instead, Jesus, the true shepherd, defends us always and saves us in so many difficult situations, dangerous situations through the light of his word and the strength of his presence that we always experience if we want to listen, every day.

The second aspect is that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows — the first aspect: defend; the second: he knows his sheep and the sheep know him (v. 14). How beautiful and comforting it is to know that Jesus knows us one by one, that we are not unknown to him, that our name is known to him! We are not a “mass”, a “multitude” for him, no. We are unique individuals, each with his or her own story, he knows each of us with our own story, each one with his or her own value, both as creatures and as people redeemed by Christ. Each of us can say: Jesus, knows me!  It is true, it is like this: He knows us like no other. Only he knows what is in our hearts, our intentions, our most hidden feelings. Jesus knows our strengths and our defects, and is always ready to care for us, to heal the wounds of our errors with the abundance of his mercy. In him, the image the prophets had provided of the shepherd of the people of God is completely fulfilled: Jesus is concerned about his sheep, he gathers them, he binds their wounds, he heals their ailments. We can read this in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (cf Ez 34:11-16).

Therefore, Jesus the Good Shepherd defends, knows, and above all loves his sheep. And this is why he gives his life for them (cf Jn 10:15). Love for his sheep, that is, for each one of us, leads him to die on the cross because this is the Father’s will — that no one should be lost. Christ’s love is not selective; it embraces everyone. He himself reminds us of this in today’s Gospel when he says: “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). These words testify to his universal concern: He is everyone’s shepherd. Jesus wants everyone to be able to receive the Father’s love and encounter God.

And the Church is called to carry on this mission of Christ. Aside from those who participate in our communities, there are many people, the majority, who do so only at particular moments or never. But this does not mean they are not God’s children: the Father entrusts everyone to Jesus the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for everyone.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus defends, knows and loves all of us. May Mary Most Holy help us be the first to welcome and follow the Good Shepherd, to joyfully cooperate in his mission.

[Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 25 April 2021]

«I Am the Gate of the sheep»

(Jn 10:1-10)

In the pastures, during the night the sheep were sheltered in stone enclosures on a slope and the shepherds (taking turns) placed themselves in defense of the flock by huddling in the position of the door down, armed with sticks, precisely as if they were a door, impassable for thieves and predators.

Life’s assiduity allowed the flock - even of different owners - to recognize the typical call and the voice of the corresponding shepherd. Not infrequently he designated each with an individual nickname (unrepeatable according to character).

In Jerusalem the great city Gates were opened in the morning and closed at sunset. They were fundamental points of urban social life, obligatory passages to enter and exit the walls.

After decades of deportation, the end of the Babylonian empire and the edict of Cyrus, the Sheep Gate was the first to be restored and the only one consecrated, because herds flowed through it to be sacrificed to the Temple.

Jesus takes a stand and explicitly denounces the abandonment’ situation of the true flock [the people] sacrificed to the interest and logic of the institution which is not interested in people's happiness but only in the defense of privileges.

He is the Shepherd who walks ahead (v.4); doesn’t hide behind the scenes: he takes risks personally. The Lord doesn’t come to take, but to give in abundance. Because God is looking for his people in shortage.

His is a Call by Name (v.3): He respects personal identity, doesn’t impose abstract or unsustainable rhythms, doesn’t force the times; He assesses the conditions of each.

For the authentic Shepherd there are no anonymous crowds.

Therefore He doesn’t close us within the ancient sacred enclosures (v.1 greek text) where mass obsessions lurk. Fences equipped with a guardian and gendarmes, where all are uniform - and the sensitive soul no longer breathes, kidnapped by opportunists (v.8).

From His Gate we can go out (vv.3-9). Indeed, it’s He who forces us to overcome it (v.3 greek text).

The authentic Guide leads to a different richness, more substantial pastures, unexpected amazements.

The true Shepherd obliges to make Exodus, pushing us (with force) out of the restricted sheepfolds.

The guide’s authoritativeness is confirmed both by the direct knowledge of the «guardian-gatekeeper» (v.3) and by that of the people, who recognize the Word, and follow it - pushed by that Call as by a thrill within.

Christ highlights the authority he has over the people, presenting Himself with the non-transitory formula «I Am» [full of eminent and profound resonances].

And actualizing, He specifies this expression with the metaphor of the Gate - not so much to close it, but above all to open it wide and let us pass.

In this way and unlike the old guides, the small flock follows Him not out of fear or calculation, as it would do with an inflexible master, but spontaneously.

Taking into account the presence of obstacles (without which we cannot grow) in the even excited journey, we will experience the invisible Friend as a Master of clarity, decision, constancy, flexibility, introspection.

Recognized in the Unknown Face that lurks within each of us, we will be made aware, motivated and free - so that we may be returned to Life.

[4th Sunday in Easter (year A), April 26, 2026]