The Gate and the Gate Keeper



4th Sunday of Easter, cycle B

Jn. 10: 11 - 18
Cycle B

It's quite remarkable that in the Philippines, after the Plenary Council of the Philippines in 1991, the priest came to be known as the "servant-leader"; that he is to serve God's people by leading, and he is to lead the people by serving and offering his life.

Our gospel for today is about Jesus being the "gatekeeper" and the "gate" for the sheep - two realities of the world of "shepherding" the flock. The shepherd knows each of his sheep "by name"; secondly he is willing to risk his life for his sheep, against wolves and thieves.

Peter, after receiving the Holy Spirit was empowered to do God's work. by his preaching, he was able to add 3000 to the number of believers, all these through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' spirit was totally in him.

We in today's generation are called to heed the voice of the shepherd. What bothers us is that we heed too much of this world's voice that God's voice was drowned to the background. All we hear is the voice of materialism, consumerism, power, luxury and fame. God's voice is curtailed in the background. We have to be aware of this and do something before things get worse.

Secondly, we are called to become His servants, by taking upon ourselves to do his work maybe as "servant-leaders" in our own way, bringing our children and our friends towards the Lord, to bring authentic life to others, life that will last forever.

We will never be exempt from these two basic realities as we strive to make our faith dynamic.

Copyright (c) 2006
Joselito Jopson
All rights reserved.

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