Safe And Secure

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟐𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏𝟏:𝟏-𝟏𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟒𝟐:𝟐-𝟑; 𝟒𝟑:𝟑-𝟒 “𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟖

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟏) 

The New American Bible (NAB) which is the Catholic translation that we Catholics officially use is like the Protestant version is divided into the Old Testament and New Testament. This is where the similarities end.

The Protestant version has 66 Books while the NAB has 73 Books comprising 1,334 Chapters – 1,075 Chapters in the Old Testament and 260 Chapters in the New Testament because the Protestant version does not include the Deuterocanonical.

Notwithstanding the difference in both the Catholic and Protestant versions insofar as the number of books is concerned – both versions can be summarized and defined in just one word – LOVE!

Indeed, the Sacred Scriptures is not just about traditions and an historical account of God’s enduring presence, but it is God’s love letter to all of us. It is an expression of God’s love for the people that He created in His own image and likeness.

If you will faithfully open, read and meditate upon the books of the Bible, you will find that there is nothing in the Scriptures that do not speak of love from the Old Covenant to the time Jesus laid down his life for the world. It is as if the Sacred Scriptures was written to assure us of his presence and of his undying love for us.

          And today we are being reminded once again of the Good Shepherd who remains watchful of the sheep that he calls his own: “𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝; 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩.” (𝐯𝐯.𝟏𝟒-𝟏𝟓) Understandably, those whom Christ was referring to in this passage refer to those who believe and abide in him.

          That is not to say that Our Lord has no compassion for those who may have lost their way and whose vision of their heavenly destination may have been clouded by the lures of this world because Christ also made room for those who at the moment are lost: “𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝; 𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟔)        

Love is what this Gospel passage today is all about as it is does not only speak of Christ being the Good Shepherd who watches over those whom he considers his own but this gospel lays bare the kind of love that God has for his people. But to believe in God is to love him.

As I have written a few days ago, the root word of believe is “liebe” which means love. Thus to believe is to love which means that if we say we believe in Jesus, then it means that we also love him.

          The Old Testament spoke of God as the Shepherd of Israel: “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝; 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 (𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟐𝟑:𝟏). 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐎 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤! (𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟎:𝟏) 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 (𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟎:𝟑).       

And Jesus as the Good Shepherd has also been prophesied in the Old Testament: “𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 (𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟒𝟎:𝟏𝟏).”       

As the Scriptures unfold we will see that the Bible speaks of the love story between God and his people, a kind of love that has no parallel and whose depth cannot be measured as it tells of a love that was engraved in sacrificial offering of Himself to seek out and save the sheep of his pasture (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟖:𝟏𝟐, 𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟓:𝟒) with Jesus as the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (𝟏 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝟐:𝟐𝟓).

          As we read in the New Covenant, Jesus made three promises to those who will deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow him (𝐋𝐤 𝟗:𝟐𝟑) and he promised those who will abide by his terms that they will enjoy everlasting life which means that those who will follow him will be ushered into the very life of God Himself.

          Jesus also promised those who will obey and follow him a life that has no end. As he explained then and which he is also telling us now that death is not the end but only the beginning of a glorious and indestructible life.

          Christ also promised his disciples and is making the same promise to us now that our lives are secure in him. Jesus said that nothing could ever take us away from his hand, not even sorrow and death, since he is everlasting life itself. Thus, our lives are secure in his hands.

          But why is it that many still are thrown into bowls of the earth where there is gnashing and grinding of teeth. Was it because they did not hear the Gospel of Christ preached to them? Or was it because they chose not to listen to it much more take heed of what the Gospel says – to love God and neighbor as well.

          The presence of Jesus especially his teachings were rejected by the Jews because they could not accept that a carpenter’s son from Nazareth was the Son of God whom the Old Testament spoke of. Even his kin thought he was insane. He cured the sick, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk and, cast out demons from those possessed by it but the Jews remained indifferent.

           But for those who heard, listened and obeyed, Jesus offered them peace and joy of life that has no end. Cyril of Alexander, one of the earliest Fathers of the Church said: “𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘯…, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 (1 𝘑𝘯 3:16), fighting for us against that pack of inhuman beasts.

He bore the Cross for us, that by His own death he might destroy death. He was condemned for us, that He might deliver all of us from the sentence of punishment: the tyranny of sin being overthrown by our faith: fastening to the Cross the decree that stood against us, as it is written (𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟐:𝟏𝟒)

          What St. Cyril was saying is what the Gospel today is also saying – that there are two kinds of shepherds in this life, the world which is the bad shepherd who flees and deserts us when the going gets tough and Christ the Good Shepherd who is prepared to lay down his life for us.

          What this Gospel passage is telling us is that we must take time to listen attentively to the voice of the Good Shepherd and obey his Word for there is much to gain from listening to him and abiding by his commands and precepts.

          While others may say they are the master of their fate and the captain of their souls it doesn’t mean we are to put our lives at great risk. It doesn’t mean we can live our lives in wild abandon because at the end of the day we must think of life’s end. Will we end in life’s bitter pool or are we going to come to a glorious end in heaven?

           Let us not play with our lives and we must listen the Words of Jesus because it is in them that we will find the plan of God for us. If we say no to God’s invitation to follow him, we have condemned ourselves and deprive ourselves of the joy of an eternal life. If we say maybe, tomorrow may never come. But if we say yes, we have God’s assurance that we will have a share of his endless glory in heaven. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 27, 2026)