Word for the Week
The Good Shepherd
April 30, 2023
“I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” In these words it is as if our Lord were saying: “Those who love me, obey me.” Certainly, those who do not love the truth cannot yet know it. My dear brothers and sisters, let us reflect upon how these words of our Lord imply a test of our own. Ask yourselves first if you are indeed sheep of Jesus; and secondly, if you know him and recognize the light of truth. We recognize truth not simply by faith but by love. You recognize truth not by the assent of the intellect, but by the love you express in your deeds. As the apostle John says: “Those who say that they love God, but disobey his commandments, are liars.”
The Lord’s sheep will find the Lord’s pastures. Those who follow Christ with an undivided heart will be nourished in pastures that are forever green. And what are such pastures if not the most profound joy of feeding in the everlasting fields of paradise? For the pasture of the saints is to see God face to face. When the vision of God never fades, the soul is filled with an abundance of food for eternal life.
– from a homily of Gregory the Great (540–604)
