In today's gospel we learn about how Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows each and every one of his sheep.
Holy Spirit, fill my heart and illuminate my mind. Help me to hear and understand God's message today. Help me to recognise when God is trying to speak to me in my daily life. Amen
Jesus said:“I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.”
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUXgMsuePDs (Credit to Catholic Kids Media)
Ask: Have you ever known someone to give up something important in order to help you? Think about a teacher who gave up lunch to help you with homework, a friend who chose to attend your party instead of going to a ballgame, or a parent who stayed up with you at night when you were sick.
Say: When we give up something important to us to help another person, we are said to make a sacrifice. Ask your children to think about a time when they made a sacrifice for another person.
Say: In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the example of a shepherd to demonstrate sacrificial love. He used this example because it was familiar to his listeners. But today we’re less familiar with the work of shepherds. What other models might we use to teach the kind of sacrificial service that Jesus described? (Accept all reasonable answers.)
Say: Whenever we serve others in ways that put their needs before our own, we are following the example that Jesus gave us.
Conclude in prayer together that we will follow Jesus’ example of loving service.
Father in heaven, for the conversion of sinners, we give you today, all that we think and do and say, and we join it with all that was done by Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen
