Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Christ Is the Perfect Shepherd

Jesus wants us to know who he is: the Good Shepherd who protects and cares for the people of God just as a shepherd does his sheep. Shepherds always want their sheep to be healthy and happy.

They want them to have the best grass, fresh water, and safety, so that they can grow and multiply as much as possible. A sheep has no greater friend than a good shepherd, and we have no greater friend than Christ. He invented life, he gave us life, and he came so that, in him, we might learn to live it "more abundantly."

He does not claim to be one good shepherd among many good shepherds, but the only one: "All others who have come are thieves and robbers." Some religious leaders and philosophers throughout history - and even in our own day - have claimed to be saviours, to have all the answers, but they were really consumed by pride, greed, or lust.

Others have sincerely sought to better this world, but simply have insufficient wisdom or power to provide the human family with the kind of hope we long for and need. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, not only wants to lead us to a more abundant life, but he can. Omniscient, omnipotent, and eternal, he combines utter goodness with infinite wisdom and unlimited power.

And so, with his flock, the problem is not the shepherd's limitations or ignorance, but the sheep's lack of docility; we stray from the flock and trap ourselves in thistles and swamps of self-centeredness, self-indulgence, and stubborn disobedience.

As Christians, we actually don't have just a good shepherd, but the perfect shepherd. All we need is to be sensible sheep and listen to the voice of the One we know.

Two Images from Shepherds' Lore

Israel had long been a shepherding people. None of the eloquent details of the comparison would have been lost on Jesus' listeners. Most of us have seen the image of a shepherd carrying a little lamb around his shoulders - one of the favourite images for Christ in early Christian art, with a surprising meaning.

When a lamb is fearful or overconfident, it constantly wanders away from the shepherd, putting itself in danger. When that keeps happening, a shepherd will sometimes purposely break one of its legs.

He then puts the lamb around his neck and carries it to and from pasture for the couple of weeks while the leg heals. By that time, the little lamb has become attached to the shepherd, and never again strays far from its master's protection and guidance. The image of the shepherd as the gate of the sheepfold (the corral) is even more suggestive.

A flock of sheep needs both protection and nourishment. The sheepfold provides the protection, and the fields provide the nourishment. In Palestine shepherds often sleep in the opening of the sheepfold, which is made from a large circle of thick, high shrubbery.

This way, wolves smell the shepherd's presence and fear to make midnight raids, while the sheep keep together inside, comforted by the presence of their protector and guide. When day finally dawns, the shepherd rises to lead his sheep out to pasture. Thus, the opening, the gate, symbolizes both protection and nourishment.

And so, when Christ calls himself the "gate for the sheep," he is telling us what he wants to be for each of us: everything. Through Church teaching, he provides a thick hedge of truth protecting us from false, seductive doctrines. Through the sacraments, he provides rich pasture to strengthen our needy souls.

And Jesus alone, the Good Shepherd, gives the Church her wisdom and the sacraments their power.