Jesus as the Good Shepherd and as the gate

WORD OF FAITH: A breakdown of each week's upcoming Sunday readings to better understand the Word of God at Mass.

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally called “Good Shepherd Sunday” (as well as being a World Day of Prayer for Vocations.) On this Sunday, in all three of our liturgical years, we hear from Chapter 10 of St. John’s Gospel about Jesus, the Good Shepherd. In each year of those three years, we are given a particular dimension, or aspect, of how Jesus is indeed our Good Shepherd. This year, our Lord speaks of how he is the “gate” or “door” to the sheepfold. He also tells us that we must enter through him and that whoever does enter through him will have life.

How do we enter through Jesus, who is the door or gate? First of all, we need to acknowledge that he is the (not just “a”) door or gate. How is this so? In our Gospel, notice how Jesus uses what has been called the “I am” statements. These occur only in St. John’s Gospel and these “I am” statements tell us of Jesus’ unique and divine identity. What is more, in our Gospel on Sunday, Jesus actually says, “I am the gate” not once, but twice! So it must be important!

Perhaps a bit of information on farming and the keeping of sheep in the time of Jesus might help us unpack further our Gospel image of Jesus as the gate or door. In the time of Jesus, there were public sheepfolds or pens. These would be in big cities or marketplaces (rather like today in farming or ranching towns.) These public sheepfolds would have a shepherd as a gatekeeper or guardian. The shepherd would prevent thieves entering, or wild animals sneaking in and attacking the sheep. Our Lord is such a guardian and protector for us. But there were also sheepfolds out in the wilderness. These would be more rudimentary, with no wooden or metal gate. Instead, the shepherd would lie across the opening into the pen, to act as both a gate and as a protector or guardian. To get to the sheep, or to enter, one would (literally) have to go through this shepherd. Our Lord is also this type of shepherd for each one of us.

To enter through the door or gate that is Jesus Christ, something else also needs to happen. To enter into a relationship with Jesus, means that we need to shed a good deal of baggage and clutter; otherwise we get all caught up and cannot move forward through the gate. A visual image may help here. I am sure that we have all observed tourists with their backpacks or suitcases, trying to negotiate through a narrow turnstile on the subway or at a station, but then how they often become all caught up in the opening.

I do not think that it is too much of a stretch of the imagination to see the baggage caught up in the turnstile (or gate, or door), as an image of us and our baggage or entanglements that prevent us entering. We need, with God’s help, to shed all sorts of things that we may be dragging around with us and that simply will not (and should not) fit through the door or gate. Things such as anger, bitterness, past hurts, a strange or wrong image of God, bad habits or attitudes that we know are mistaken or damaging, addictions and many other burdens and baggage.

What is worse, all this baggage can so encumber and occupy us, that we do not hear or recognize the voice of Jesus as he calls us. We can fail to hear the voice of God (our vocation), calling us to be who He wants us to be. This baggage or burden can also tempt us to find other or easier ways of trying to enter into a fullness of life; other doors or gates. These doors or gates could be all sorts of things: money, status, drugs, addictions, etc. But these are false entrances: they only lead to us being robbed, or attacked, or even destroyed. Instead, we must enter through Christ, who came, “so that they might have life and have it to the full.”

The words of Jesus are multi-layered, but they are especially an invitation and an encouragement to renew our faith in the risen Lord, our Good Shepherd. He is THE door or gate. Then, we need to ask his help in shedding the loads that can drag us down and prevent us from entering through that opening into a new and life-changing relationship with Him. This is not always easy, of course. Shedding the load or the obstacles in our heart certainly can involve much effort. Fortunately, we have many things that can help us in that process of shedding and unburdening, such as the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Eucharist, prayer and taking part in a retreat. 

The giving of our time to others (especially those in need) frequently takes us out of ourselves and helps us to see a bigger picture. Perhaps a project during the rest of this Easter Season might be to think of one thing, one item of excess baggage that prevents us from going through the door or gate and, with God’s help, to do something about getting rid of it!