In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the example of a shepherd who calls his own flock out from the mixed flocks in the sheepfold. His sheep “follow him because they know his voice.” We hear many voices calling to us in our lives. The voice of the Gospel urges us to learn to recognize the voice of our Shepherd, Jesus, as he calls us to follow him and “to have life and to have it more abundantly.”
Recently I completed a two-year course called, “Good Leaders, Good Shepherds." In this course I learned some very important skills in order to be a better shepherd. As a priest I am challenged to know my parishioners more closely, to call them by name, to care for their needs, to keep them from harm. To put it frankly, I am to be a pastor, not a mere administrator; a steward, not a mere financier; I am to be a servant who listens and not a supervisor who merely dictates. Basically we are all challenged in all we do and say, to bear witness to the true Shepherd we call Good.
