A missionary priest, reflecting on his ministry among the Maasai people of Tanzania and Kenya, admitted he sometimes had problems explaining to them the references in scripture. However, they instinctively understood one magnificent image —the Good Shepherd. In their culture, the work and image of a shepherd is part of their everyday life.
As a nomadic people who live with an oral tradition, the Maasai do not have a complex numbering system. Maasai shepherds give each animal a name, often a nickname that describes its character and attributes. The shepherd identifies the sheep this way because he knows each one individually. This is exactly the image which Jesus uses in this Sunday’s Gospel reading: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”
In our culture, being called a sheep generally means a person is too easily led or thoughtlessly goes along with the crowd. But in this Gospel passage, Jesus is not calling us to be mindless followers. Rather, Jesus, who knows us better than we know ourselves, calls each of us by name. He says that the sheep that belong to him will never be lost. They cannot even be taken from him. What person, valued by the Good Shepherd as a unique man or woman, would ever want to leave?
- The Good Shepherd will never let his sheep be lost or be taken from him. How does this image comfort you? How does this image challenge you?
Adapted from Word on the Go, a downloadable resource from RENEW International.