I KNOW MY SHEEP

A REFLECTION FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

"He is the Lord our God, and we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 94 : 7).

“I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep” (John 10 : 14).

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25 : 31-32).

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be taking a closer look at these quotations, and the one important truth that unites them.  The common factor is that we are Christ’s sheep and that he is our shepherd. He knows his sheep, and it is imperative for our salvation that on the Day of Judgment he recognizes us as his sheep.

It is the most essential thing that we must do, therefore, as Christians, to make sure of three basics:  

1) That we belong to Christ’s pasture, and not any other; in other words, that we belong to the Church he founded.

2) That we do not stray from that pasture through grave sin, heresy, schism or apostasy.

3) That we take the food Christ gives us in his pasture, that is, that we receive Holy Communion as Christ commanded, thus providing for our future union with God in heaven.

These are the three essentials foundations of our salvation.  If we meet these standards, our Blessed Lord and Judge will know us as his sheep.  If we fail to meet even one of these standards, he will not.  Failure means damnation.  The stakes are that high!

Today, our focus is on belonging to the true Church of Christ. Let each of us look to our own conscience, and be certain that we can identify the church we attend as belonging to that same Church Christ founded on the rock of St. Peter.