"The Shepherd of David's line."

“I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep,

and My sheep know Me –

just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father

– and I lay down My Life for the sheep.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Ezekiel 37:21-28

You will then say to them:

Thus says the Lord: I am about to withdraw the Israelites from where they were among the nations.

I shall gather them from all around and bring them back to their land.

I shall make them into one people on the mountains of Israel; and one king is to be king of them all.

They will no longer form two nations or be two separate kingdoms, nor will they defile themselves again with their idols,

their detestable practices and their sins.

 

I shall free them from the guilt of their treachery; I shall cleanse them; and they will be for me a people,

and I shall be God for them. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all.

They will live according to my laws and follow and practice my decrees.

They will settle in the land I gave to my servant Jacob where their ancestors lived.

There, they will live forever, their children and their children's children. David, my servant, will be their prince forever.

 

I shall establish a Covenant of peace with them, an everlasting Covenant. I shall settle them;

and they will increase; and I shall put my Sanctuary in their midst forever.

I shall make my home at their side; I shall be their God and they will be my people.

Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who makes Israel holy, having my Sanctuary among them forever."

 

Jer 31:10, 11-12, 13 The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

John 11:45-56

Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what he did;

but some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

So the chief priests and the Pharisees called together the Council.

They said, "What are we to do? For this man keeps on performing many miraculous signs.

If we let him go on like this, all the people will believe in him and, as a result of this,

the Romans will come and destroy our Holy Place and our nation."

 

Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, spoke up,

"You know nothing at all! It is better to have one man die for the people than to let the whole nation be destroyed."

In saying this Caiaphas did not speak for himself, but being High Priest that year,

he foretold like a prophet that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only,

but also would die in order to gather into one the scattered children of God.

So, from that day on, they were determined to kill him.

 

Because of this, Jesus no longer moved about freely among the Jews.

He withdrew instead to the country near the wilderness, and stayed with his disciples in a town called Ephraim.

The Passover of the Jews was at hand,

and people from everywhere were coming to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover.

They looked for Jesus and, as they stood in the temple, they talked with one another, "What do you think? Will he come to the festival?"

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"The Shepherd of David's line."

"What do you think? Will he come to the festival?" The scene is set for Christ's entry into Jerusalem and our entry into Holy Week.

The storm clouds of envy and murderous intent are gathering, and Jesus takes a brief respite in the wilderness before his Passion begins.

Just as he went into the wilderness before his ministry of preaching God's Kingdom,

now he withdraws to the wilderness before undergoing his priestly ministry of self-sacrifice,

a reconciling death that would "gather into one the scattered children of God." This time,

he is not alone, though. He is at a village with his disciples, who are still with him before they also scatter in fear.

 

Christ knew what awaited him in Jerusalem and what it was for. He would fulfill what was prophesied by Ezekiel:

God's people would be reconciled once more, gathered together under one Shepherd in a new covenant of peace.

Christ is that Shepherd of David's line, who will bring healing and peace. So, "What do you think?

Will he come to the festival?" Of course, he will, for that is why he came. What about you? Will you come too? Let's go with him to Jerusalem.