To appreciate the imagery of the gospel, you have to know a little about the role

of the shepherd at the time of Jesus. Scholars tell us that at the time of Jesus,

several shepherds might bring their flocks of sheep at night to a sheepfold, a square

marked off on a hillside by a stone wall; the sheep would enter and leave the stone

enclosure through a gate in the wall. A shepherd might spend the night at this gate,

protecting the sheep and seeing that they did not stray. In the morning, the

shepherd would lead his sheep out, calling each by a special name that he might

have for that sheep. Each sheep knew its name and recognized the voice of the

shepherd. It would not follow a stranger.

This understanding of sheep and shepherd helps us to better understand our

own relationship with Jesus. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own

and mine know me” (John 10:14). It is not sheep that Jesus knows, but rather each

one of us individually and personally. Indeed, he knows us better than we know

ourselves.

And like the good shepherd, Jesus, every day, calls us by name and leads us out

of the relative safety of the sheepfold. He speaks a word to us that enables us to go

forth into the freedom of life in Christ. There are many layers of meaning here;

like any good parable or story, once can look into it and see great depth of possible

meaning. Let’s take a modern-day application of the truths outlined in this story.

One example is “The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep.” This, in its

application, whatever may be said of the literal parable, is quite true, in reference

to our Lord, who did so, and the pastors of His Church, who sacrifice their

temporal life, as happens every day, in times of pestilence or persecution, for the

spiritual life of their flocks.

Another example is our lives in modern-day times:

Today, living within the sheepfold means having the spiritual protection that

comes from living by the ordinary means of salvation provided by God and His

Church. In other words, by committing no mortal sins. Committing a mortal sin,

by use of our own free will, automatically puts us OUTSIDE the security of the

sheepfold, in the territory of the predators. These predators are the demons who

inhabit the earth - who, in the words of the St. Michael the Archangel Prayer “who

prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls”.

Stepping outside the protection of the sheepfold and succumbing to sin also has

another very dangerous effect: once outside the sheepfold, the sin we engage in

dulls our spiritual senses, our mind and our conscience, thus making it easier and

more likely we will sin again and again and again. It’s like a water vortex where

you may find yourself spinning faster and faster, descending quickly. Examples of

this effect are some students who leave home for the first time and can make their

own decisions. For others, it’s the toxic environment of a bad home situation or a

bad community in which they live. It’s easy to sin, it’s much harder to pull yourself

out of the cycle of misery and back to Jesus’ waiting arms.

Jesus provided a way back into the security of His sheepfold and that is through

the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Jesus is at the gate of the sheepfold, welcoming

us back in where we can lick our wounds, regain our health and learn from our

mistakes.

Today, people actually debate whether there is objective truth or not and say

there is my truth and your truth, where your truth might be OK for you but not for

me and where even our shepherds in the Church debate whether it’s OK for our

political leaders to say they’re “personally opposed” to some evil but won’t work

publicly to protect others from that evil.

This, I think, is how we apply this parable to our world today. We must all say

that there IS objective good and objective evil. We must not allow people to

muddy the waters by wordsmithing their way to make good sound like evil and

vice-versa. To do so is to step out of the shepherd and be subject to the demons

who “prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls”.

Staying under Mary’s mantle, under the blood coming from Jesus’ crown of

thorns or within the sheepfold all mean we are protected and can work on our

salvation without external interference which is so devastating to so many people’s

lives.

We live in tumultuous times and so we need a compass that can tell us where

true north is. That compass is the Catechism of the Catholic Church, who with

the Holy Bible and the Deposit of Faith given us by Jesus can help us simplify all

the confusing and downright misleading information we are bombarded with.

Demons do this by use of a four-stage plan of attack on us: deception, then

division, which proceeds to diversion, and ends in discouragement.

Let’s stay true to the church Jesus founded. The one that will never pass away.

Let us pray: Lord God, assist me as I follow the way of Jesus Christ. Help me to

be a shepherd to others, caring for them as Jesus cared for others. Assist me in

ridding myself of my sinfulness and stay forever under the protection of your care.

I make this prayer in the name of Jesus, He who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.