Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighborhood monk in docks.
Welcome to another installment of the Sunday series.
Today's Gospel reading is from John chapter 10 verses 27 to 30.
As we begin,
I invite you to find yourself being comfortable.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Let yourself settle mindfully into the moment,
Opening your mind,
Your ears,
Your heart to what the voice of the Spirit will say to you today through the text,
And through our reflection.
We begin with the reading from the Gospel of John.
Jesus said,
My sheep hear my voice,
I know them,
And they know me.
I give them eternal life,
And they will never perish.
No one will snatch them out of my hand.
What my Father has given me is greater than all else,
And no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand.
The Father and I are one.
There's something about being known deeply,
Truly,
Without fear.
Not just seen for what we do,
But recognized for who we are at the core,
Before we ever speak,
Maybe even before we even rise from our beds.
Jesus begins,
Not with a command,
Not with a correction,
But with a voice and a knowing.
My sheep hear my voice,
I know them,
And they follow me.
He says,
My sheep hear my voice,
Not just any voice,
Not noise,
Not opinion,
Not demand.
This is Christ's voice.
And maybe that's where it all begins,
Not with trying harder,
But with hearing.
Hearing a voice that doesn't shout over the crowd,
But whispers in the quiet places of the heart.
Jesus says,
I know them.
This is not the knowledge of statistics or credentials.
It's not knowing about us.
It's the knowing of a shepherd who has walked every step of the wilderness with us.
It's the knowing of the one who knit us together,
Who called us by name before we ever answered.
The one who's seen every shadow within us and did not once flinch and turn away.
We are known,
My friend,
And we are safe.
Jesus says,
No one will snatch them out of my hand.
These words echo into eternity.
Mystics and saints have called this the unshakable union,
A deep reality,
Not built on our emotions and not dependent on our performance,
But grounded in the very nature of God.
It's easy to forget,
Easy to think that the world might wander off,
Or that we might wander off.
But Jesus insists,
You are in my hand.
And more than that,
You are in God's hand.
And that I and God the Father are one.
It's not poetry.
It's a promise.
You are held.
You are held in hands that shape the stars,
Held in the embrace that cannot be undone,
Held in union,
Stronger than your fear,
More constant than your doubt,
More patient than your wandering.
The shepherd's not a distant figure,
Standing on a hillside,
Issuing orders.
The shepherd,
My friend,
Is within.
Christ's voice is internal and intimate.
And in our better moments of stillness,
When we pause,
When we listen,
We hear it.
Like a note resonating in the deepest part of our being,
Because we were created to recognise that voice.
Jesus goes on,
My sheep hear my voice.
We don't follow him because of fear.
We follow because something in us has always known.
Even when we didn't have the words,
And even when our lives were tangled in noise,
Even when all we could feel was lost,
Still the voice called.
And it calls now.
Not to burden you,
Not to shame you,
Not to push you harder,
But to remind you.
You are mine.
You are not forgotten,
Not abandoned,
Not at risk of being taken.
You are held.
In Christ's words is a reality deeper than our emotion.
You are already in union with Christ.
Already known,
Already theirs,
Already home.
And because of this union,
This hidden life we share in Christ,
Nothing,
Nothing,
Paul writes,
Can separate us.
Not confusion,
Not pain,
Not death,
Not even ourselves.
The shepherd has claimed us,
Not by force,
But by love.
And love never lets go.
As we come towards the end of our time together this day,
I invite you to breathe deeply in and out.
And let the words of this prayer wash over you.
O Christ,
Shepherd of our souls,
You who call with tenderness,
You who whisper through the noise,
Teach us to listen,
To lean in,
To trust your love more than the fears that echo inside of us.
We're tired of running.
We're tired of striving.
We're tired of forgetting who we already are in you.
Let us rest in the knowledge and truth that we are known.
Let us walk in the knowledge and truth that we are yours.
And when we forget,
Please call to us again,
Gently,
Lovingly,
Relentlessly.
Your voice has always known the way and we were made to follow.
So here we are.
Lead us home,
Again and again,
Into the stillness,
Into the safety,
Into the union we never earned,
But which has always,
Always held us,
And always will.
Amen.
Take one more deep breath in,
My friend,
And out.
And go into this day knowing that you are held,
Knowing that you are known,
Knowing that you are loved.
And may grace,
Peace,
And that deep love be with you and go with you,
Every step of the way,
Today and every day.
Amen.
Until next time,
Peace be with you.
