Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out all those that are his, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice.” (Jn 10, 2-4).
The Easter Season we are living is a time to deepen our friendship with the Risen Jesus, the Good Shepherd of our souls. He is the Good Shepherd because he gave His life for each and every one of us, he shed his Blood for our salvation. Our hearts should overflow with wonder and gratitude for this work of Salvation!
We truly need this long Easter season in order to deepen our awareness of the gifts of the Redemption: to offer them to the Father in thanksgiving, to shape our life according to them and witness them to others who have yet to hear about them. These gifts flow from the Resurrection of Christ and are poured out over the Church.
Let us think for example of Divine Mercy Sunday. Saint Faustina Kowalska tells how the Lord revealed to her that on: “on that day all the channels for divine grace were opened, no one need fear coming to Me even if his sins were red like scarlet ” (Q. II, p. 267).
To immerse ourselves in all these many “Easter graces”, every day we must be open to the working of the Holy Spirit who enters the hearts of those who believe and who trust in Jesus. On special Feast Days, such as Divine Marcy Sunday, celebrated by the universal Church on Dominica in Albis, when Heaven “showers” graces on earth, souls accustomed to being open to God will find it easier to welcome these graces, whereas how could persons who are distracted or inconstant, or even indifferent, ever be ready for the Gift of God?
This shows how important it is to follow the Good Shepherd day by day, to heed His teachings and put them into practice. As Jesus says in the Gospel passage mentioned above, we must learn “to recognise His voice”!
When we come into the world we instinctively recognise the voice of our mother. The more we listen to it the more familiar it becomes. It instils trust, serenity, as soon as we hear it. We only need to hear “that” voice, and are heart is ready to listen contentedly. Whereas the voice of a stranger produces quite another reaction. So it is with the Shepherd of our souls. The more we love Him, the more familiar is His “voice”: His silence says more than many words, if in our heart we live in His friendship. For those who believe and trust in Jesus the reality of the world and our own personal story become intelligible, illuminated by His Voice. We find within us a precise plan of God, we take a certain path because, our Guide knows exactly where to lead each of His sheep.
It is sweet to dwell on the fact that Jesus is the “Gate of the sheepfold” (Jn 10, 7), He speaks of a “gatekeeper” (Jn 10, 3), who opens the gate for Jesus. This “gatekeeper” makes us think of our conscience, and especially of priests and their attitude to the souls in their care. In fact it is Jesus who leads souls, His priests are only the 'servants' of His Word and His Altar. In fact what the priest gives to souls comes not from him but from Christ: the Word, the Body, the Blood, forgiveness of sins, blessing… the priest does not act in the liturgy or pastoral, it is Jesus who acts and makes use of the service of the priestly ministry, as the Shepherd relies on the gatekeeper. Like John the Baptist, the priest can also call himself, “the friend of the bridegroom” (Jn 3, 29), the one “who must decrease” (Jn 3, 30) and the Lord the "voice" must increase (Mk 1, 3).
Priests are “gatekeepers”, who open the way for the Lord who comes, who are channels of grace and are loved by all those whom they help to find Jesus. The experience in their life what the Holy Father spoke about on Holy Thursday, 2006: “The Lord has laid his hands upon us and he now wants our hands so that they may become his own in the world. He no longer wants them to be instruments for taking things, people or the world for ourselves, to reduce them to being our possession, but instead, by putting ourselves at the service of his love, they can pass on his divine touch…Today, let us once again put our hands at his disposal and pray to him to take us by the hand, again and again, and lead us.” (Benedict XVI, 13 April 2006). (Agenzia Fides 16/4/2008; righe 54, parole 806)
