We are his people, the sheep of his flock

This past Sunday was Good Shepherd Sunday, the unofficial feast day of this blog site. “We are his people, the sheep of his flock” (Psalm 100). We hear Jesus say in today’s Gospel (Jn 10) that no one can take us out of his hand, and he is the Good Shepherd. We are always his. No matter where we go or have gone, no matter how far we have strayed as his sheep, we are the sheep of his flock. This is so important for us to hear and remember because when we stray, we can feel all alone. If we go out on our own, we run the risk of being all alone. Isolation becomes the worst part of the experience (cf the lost son in Lk 15). Isolation leads to loneliness which leads to despair which leads to sadness and depression.

But, with the Good Shepherd, we know we are never truly alone. “No one can take them out of my hand”. We are always in his hand. We belong to Him. He is always with us. We are never alone. And, Christ and the Father are one. So, we are always in the hand of the Father. We are His. We are always His children. No matter where we go or how we feel, we are always sons and daughters of the God the Father and Christ the Good Shepherd.

This past Sunday was also Mother’s Day. Mothers resemble the Good Shepherd. No one can take us out of our mother’s hand. We have one mother only; there is no other. We always belong to Mom. We are always her children. No matter where we go or even if we try to leave our family, we are always a son or daughter of our mother. We are never all alone.