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Jn.10:1-10

4è dimanche de Pâques, année A – 2020

1 mai 2020
Nicole Gregoire
4 Comments
Catégories: Trésor ancien et nouveau
Mots-clés: Berger, brebis, chemin, comprendre, Jn.10:1-10, nom, pâturages, suivre, vivre, voix

La scène que le texte de l’évangile de ce jour nous présente (Jn.10:1-10) ne se retrouverait pas chez nous. 

Même en milieu rural, où l’on peut apercevoir des enclos de moutons,  le berger, lui, ne marche pas au milieu de ses bêtes d’un endroit à l’autre.
Il retrouve son troupeau à certains moments pour les nourrir et s’assurer de leur bien-être.

Faut-il en déduire que le message de ce texte ne s’adresse pas à nous?
Où qu’il ne réserve pas un message approprié aux citadins que nous sommes, pour la plupart?

Une telle conclusion serait une erreur; elle nous priverait de la compréhension de ce que Jésus veut nous partager.

La description du berger que donne Jésus est simple et l’image en est bien vivante:

  • le berger marche à la tête de son troupeau;
  • il appelle chaque brebis par son nom;
  • elles écoutent sa voix;
  • elles les suivent.

Je passe du 1er siècle au 21è et me voici…
La comparaison peut sembler aller de soi, mais…

‘Mon’ Berger est invisible, je ne peux pas le voir.
Il me connaît par mon nom – évidemment, il connaît tout de moi, mais…
Je ne peux l’entendre m’appeler.
Je m’efforce d’écouter sa voix, mais… est-ce vraiment la sienne?

Le suivre… Je me suis mise à sa suite mais… le chemin est parfois ardu… et les ambûches ne manquent pas.
Il y a les distractions, les tentations, la fascination…
La fascination d’aller là où les paturages sont plus verdoyants, les réussites plus faciles, les succès plus rapides…
Les obstales moins nombreux, les épreuves moins pénibles, les sacrifices moins coûteux…
 
Le texte de l’évangile ajoute:
“Jésus employa cette image pour s’adresser aux pharisiens,
mais eux ne comprirent pas de quoi il leur parlait.”

N’est-ce pas étrange?
Ces maîtres en écriture sainte toujours prêts à argumenter et contredire Jésus,
ils ne comprennent pas…

Et moi?…
Comprendre et… vivre selon ce que j’ai compris…

Note: Une autre réflexion est disponible sur un thème différent en anglais à: https://image-i-nations.com/4th-sunday-of-easter-year-a-2020/

 

Source: Images: Countryside   Masterfile

4th Sunday of Easter, Year A – 2020 

1 mai 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Coronavirus, door, gate, Jn.10:1-10, pandemic, time of grace

The text of the gospel of this Sunday is well known (Jn.10:1-10).
Many people noticing the reference will think:
‘This is the gospel of the Good Shepherd.’
This is correct… to a certain extent.

In this section of the text, Jesus speaks of a shepherd in general.
He will present himself as THE shepherd in the verses following today’s text.
But in the text offered to us this Sunday, Jesus makes another affirmation,
less familiar, perhaps, yet revealing something of himself.

He says:
“Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep…
Whoever enters by me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.” 
 
A gate, a door, an entrance into somewhere.
A place that leads us from one area to another.
A threshold… an entry into another place, another space…

This is what Jesus is, what he wants to be for us.
He is there for us, with us, to enable us to… move on,
to pass from where we are to where we can become more as God wants us to be.

This is a message very appropriate for the period we live just now –
a period of pandemic due to the Coronavirus which upsets our lives and troubles our minds.
Could it be that God wants this time to be a time of grace –
a God-given time for us to pass from our ordinary lives to that which he has in store for us?

Jesus says it clearly:
“I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.”
 
NOW, more than ever!

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-a-2020/

 

Source: Images: Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

4th Sunday of Easter, Year A

4 mai 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: assistance, calling us, caring, challenging, comforting, gain our attention, hearing the voice of Lord, Jn.10:1-10, propaganda, publicity, suggestions

If I pronounce the words: ‘The voice’, probably quite a few people will think of the television programme by this name.
One characteristic of the programme is that those who are to judge the performers do not see them – they only hear, yes, their voices.

This came to my mind when reading the gospel of this 4th Sunday of Easter (Year A, Jn.10:1-10).
One verse of the text says precisely:

“The shepherd goes in front of them and the sheep follow
because they know his voice.”
 
We know that – figuratively speaking, of course – we are the sheep that the Lord is leading, his followers.
But, could he say the same of us?…
Could he say that we know his voice?

Do we recognize it?
Can we identify this sound of his, calling us…
Trying to gain our attention, speaking to us personally…
And that, in the midst of so many other voices reaching us through the day?

The voices of our relatives demanding our help or giving us advice…
That of our friends and neighbours asking for assistance or offering suggestions…
The sounds of our colleagues coaxing us into doing, or not doing something…
And… the inner voices that have become part of our personality – that of our values, convictions, or… prejudices…
And, of course, the ever-present voices of publicity, propaganda, persuasive as they are…
So many voices!

What about HIS own – is it drowned in all of the surrounding sounds, becoming hardly a whisper?…
True – like the judges of the television programme – we do not, we cannot, see him.

Yet, he keeps on providing us with inspiration and guidance.
His voice… with his unique accent – altogether caring, comforting, challenging…
Could he really say that WE know his voice?

Source: Image: NCB Blog