I am the gate for the sheep

MONDAY 4 MAY (Jn 10,1-10)

It is a good thing to read a passage from the prophet Ezekiel to know the breakdown that occurs in the Lord’s flock when a bad pastor takes care of it: “So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered and wandered over all the mountains and high hills; my sheep were scattered over the whole earth, with no one to look after them or to search for them. As for you, my sheep, says the Lord God, I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. Was it not enough for you to graze on the best pasture, that you had to trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? Was it not enough for you to drink the clearest water, that you had to foul the remainder with your feet? Thus my sheep had to graze on what your feet had trampled and drink what your feet had fouled. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now will I judge between the fat and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and butt all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them out, I will save my sheep so that they may no longer be despoiled, and I will judge between one sheep and another. I will appoint one shepherd over them to pasture them, my servant David; he shall pasture them and be their shepherd. I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken. I will make a covenant of peace with them, and rid the country of ravenous beasts, that they may dwell securely in the desert and sleep in the forests” (Cf. Ez 34,1-25). Without the shepherd, the sheep also become prey to the sheep.

The prophet Hosea reveals that all the evils of the people, even material and not only spiritual, are the fruit of the bad shepherd: “Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel, for the Lord has a grievance against the inhabitants of the land: There is no fidelity, no mercy, no knowledge of God in the land. False swearing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery! in their lawlessness, bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and everything that dwells in it languishes: The beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and even the fish of the sea perish. But let no one protest, let no one complain; with you is my grievance, O priests! You shall stumble in the day, and the prophets shall stumble with you at night; I will destroy your mother. My people perish for want of knowledge! Since you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from my priesthood; Since you have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your sons”  (Hos 4,1-6). The prosperity of a people passes through the diligent work of the shepherd. An eternal truth.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

If the shepherd wants to be the door of the sheep, he might be only in Christ, with Christ and for Christ. He must be from Christ in everything, as Christ is from the Father in everything. The obedience of Christ to the Father must be the obedience of the pastor to Christ. But today the flock is not guarded from the thought of Christ Jesus, which is the thought of the Father. It is supported by the thought of men. It is no longer the will of Christ Jesus, which is the will of the Father, which the shepherd teaches. Instead he lets himself be taught by the will of men. When Christ is denied – and this is the true crisis of the shepherd – we always fall into the slavery of the creature. Whether it is slavery to the personal heart, to Satan or other people, it has little importance. The pastor is no longer God’s blessing.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints arrange that every Pastor is always from the heart of Christ Jesus.