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<\/a><\/p>\nSometimes we use the name of an animal to describe a person\u2019s personality, or one of their actions \u2013 for example: \u201che ate like a horse\u201d or \u201cshe is a snake\u201d or \u201cdon\u2019t be a chicken, go for it!\u201d or \u201cwhat a pig.\u201d\u00a0 We immediately know what these animal descriptions mean.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s Gospel passage from Saint John, Jesus refers to us his disciples as His sheep who faithfully hear his voice.<\/p>\n
Now, in normal, every-day language, nobody really wants to be called a \u201csheep.\u201d\u00a0 It evokes a sense of shyness, and an overall lack of confidence.\u00a0 A sheep is a mindless and uncritical follower of others, someone who just goes with the flow.\u00a0 So, what does Jesus mean when he calls us sheep?<\/p>\n
When I was a kid in Peru, I loved the annual fair in the city.\u00a0 My father would take his top pedigree hogs and by the end of the fair, they\u2019d get auctioned to other pig farmers.\u00a0 During the fair, my brother, my sister, and I would get picked up from school, and instead of returning to our farm outside the city where we lived, we\u2019d go to the fair where we\u2019d spend all afternoon.\u00a0 I loved going over to see the sheep since we didn\u2019t have any in our farm.\u00a0 I was intrigued by them. \u00a0I would try hugging them, they were so soft.\u00a0 They were shy and nervous, and would scare easily.\u00a0 They ran toward the comfort of the flock.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t seem as sharp as the other farm animals.<\/p>\n
The truth is that sheep are not very intelligent, they quickly get disoriented, and need to be guided and cared for.\u00a0 They easily get lost if far from the flock, and don\u2019t know how to get back. \u00a0Sheep are pretty helpless: they don\u2019t have sharp teeth or claws to defend themselves, they aren\u2019t very big or strong, and they can\u2019t run away very fast from predators.<\/p>\n
It sounds a bit insulting to be called sheep by Jesus, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
Yet the truth is that we human beings sometimes get quite disoriented, we too lose our way through bad life choices, and we too need someone to pull us back into the fold.\u00a0 We too need someone to protect us, guide us, and heal us.\u00a0 Even though at times we feel strong and independent, deep down, we are weak and fragile by nature.<\/p>\n
We all want to be like tigers \u2013 top dog and invincible \u2013 but the truth is that we are sheep who need a shepherd.\u00a0 No matter how hard we try to do what is right, so often we chose what is wrong.\u00a0 Despite our good intentions, we fail over and over again.\u00a0 We get trapped in our own minds, bogged down by our failures, anxious about what others think of us\u2026 we are more like sheep than we\u2019d like to admit.<\/p>\n
We deceive ourselves thinking that we don\u2019t need others to succeed \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t need anyone worrying about me or looking over behind my back.\u00a0 I can take care of myself.\u201d\u00a0 We applaud a \u201cself-made man\u201d or a \u201cself-made woman\u201d because we wrongly think that depending on others is a handicap, or a limitation.\u00a0 Society tells us that the goal in life is to be totally independent and self-made.<\/p>\n
Yet the Gospel invites us not to be self-made, but rather to build who we are on the firm foundation that is Jesus Christ<\/em>.\u00a0 Autonomy is the illusion that we do not need others, including God, in order to achieve happiness.<\/p>\nWe depend on the Good Shepherd and the other sheep of the flock.\u00a0 To achieve true happiness, we will always need another.\u00a0 Happiness cannot be reached in isolation.\u00a0 True happiness is found by loving and helping others.\u00a0 Love and happiness always involve another person: be it God or neighbor.<\/p>\n
We are not saved in isolation, and where we are going, the Kingdom of Heaven, we will not be in isolation.\u00a0 In his vision, Saint John says, \u201cI had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.\u201d\u00a0 This great flock worshipped Jesus Christ together, and Saint John heard one of the elders say, \u201cthe one who sits on the throne will shelter them.\u00a0 They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them.\u00a0 For the lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them, and lead them to springs of life-giving water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
We cannot thrive in isolation; we must be part the flock.\u00a0 True wisdom is following the Good Shepherd and hearing His voice.\u00a0 Other flocks and other voices exist, we pray that we will hear the voice of Jesus calling us his sheep, so that in our need, we will find strength in Him, and be counted among the great multitude in heaven.<\/p>\n
Picture is not mine, link here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes we use the name of an animal to describe a person\u2019s personality, or one of their actions \u2013 for example: \u201che ate like a horse\u201d or \u201cshe is a snake\u201d or \u201cdon\u2019t be a chicken, go for it!\u201d or \u201cwhat a pig.\u201d\u00a0 We immediately know what these animal descriptions mean. In today\u2019s Gospel passage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":6514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[208,1894,320,1891],"class_list":["post-6511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homily","tag-catholic-church","tag-good-shepherd","tag-homily","tag-sheep"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n