In Donegal, Ireland, where the mountainous scenery is truly spectacular, the rocky landscape with its purple heather is grazed by wandering sheep hovering over it like tiny, billowing clouds as far as the eye can see. l spent my childhood experience growing up in Donegal. Every summer I would spend my vacation at my uncles’s sheep farm in Cark Hill, and I’ll never forget the experience of feeding the sheep there in the early hours of the morning way up the mountainside. The sheep would be in hiding or sleeping behind rocks or batches of heather when I approached, but once they heard my voice, they would burst forth with sudden glee and energy to receive the fodder I carried with me for their morning meal. It was an awe-inspiring sight and I was reminded of the words of the Good Shepherd in today’s scripture: ‘My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” I was fortunate to have had this childhood experience that has enabled me to better understand why Jesus chose the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep to describe His relationship with His people.

In today’s scripture, Jesus uses the image of the shepherd to describe His style of leadership. He draws on local understanding, however, of how sheep would follow the voice of the Shepherd. For example, unlike shepherds in Donegal or anywhere else in our Western hemisphere, the Semitic shepherd of Jesus’s day led his sheep; he did not drive them. Likewise, the ancient shepherd’s pen was formed of simple brambles and a rope. The shepherd himself would serve as the closure to the pen; that is, he was the sheep gate ( John 10:7 ). He would also sit and guard his sheep. This sense of identity between the good shepherd and his sheep was so intimate that the shepherd could gather them simply by the sound of his voice, and the sheep would follow.

In the same way, the true followers of Jesus know and follow His voice which they recognize in the Scriptures as He reminds us (Luke:28).

Jesus is also both our guide and protector. As guide, He leads us through the pitfalls of life, and brings us safely home with Him where we belong. As protector, He offers us security and comfort along the way. He is telling us, in this gospel story, that our destiny is inseparably linked to our faith in Him. All we need to do is respond to His call. You don’t have to give up your profession or your house or your car or your savings account, but you do have to be detached from them to answer His call. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but looses his soul?” ( Mark 8:36 )

What is the most important thing in your life? Is it your job? Is it your material possessions? Or, is it your soul? To the degree you listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, and follow Him, you are nurturing the needs of the soul. To the degree you are governed by material things rather than the gospel, you are worshiping at the altar of mammon, and you cannot serve both.

Now is a good time to be open to the voice of the Good Shepherd for whoever hears His word in scripture and practices it finds, not only salvation, but rest and safety from the daily grind and cares of the world.

Fr. Hugh Duffy