Do You Know the Lord?

“I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”

John 10:14-15a

On the Fourth Sunday of Easter the Church celebrates “Good Shepherd Sunday,” because we hear the Gospel in which the Lord says He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. There exists between the shepherd and the sheep a unique bond and relationship. The sheep relies entirely on the shepherd. They know the shepherd will be there to protect them. The shepherd loves his sheep. As Christians, we are the sheep of the flock of the Good Shepherd. Do we know Him?

Jesus says that He knows His [sheep] and they know Him, but do we really know Him? Do we really know the voice of the Good Shepherd? Perhaps the more important question is do we see ourselves as the sheep of the Good Shepherd? Only when we see ourselves as sheep will we acknowledge the need for a shepherd. As Christians we are called to follow the Lord, to walk in His footsteps, and to live out our lives so that others might come to encounter Him in us. We must bear the face of Christ in our lives. We must remember that who we are and who we are called to be is rooted in Jesus, the Christ, the Good Shepherd. How well do our lives reflect Jesus Christ?

In order to follow the Good Shepherd we must learn to hear His voice. There are many voices that call out to us in our daily lives — the voice of God, our own voice, the voices of those whom we love, the voices that lead us to sin. In today’s world the voices that tell us to seek what gives us pleasure and to do what we please is quite loud, drowning out not just the voice of reason in our hearts, but also the Voice of the Good Shepherd that seeks to bring us peace. When we attune our hearts to the frequency of this world and its fleeting pleasures, we forget who we are, that we are the sheep of the One who cries out to us.

The voice of the Good Shepherd and the voice of the world do not exist on the same wavelength. We must choose to turn the dial to the frequency that speaks truth and love and peace. Only then will we be able to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. When we finally hear His voice, we will be able to know Him more and more intimately. When we hear His Voice, we will be led to His Word; when we come to read His Word, we will come to know Him, and when we know Him, He will lead us to His heart, which beats for love of us. The Good Shepherd calls out to you. He knows you. Do you know Him?

Click below to watch this week’s reflection.