"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; - Jn 10:1
I am so grateful that St. Ignatius gives me this opportunity to reflect on this wonderful passage from St. John's gospel (Jn 10:1-18). I think I will return to briefly address smaller pieces of this session at various times throughout the day, because there is so much rich imagery in these verses.
This step is about who Jesus is, for the purpose of giving us a chance to reflect on the ways that we long and pray to conform to him. I get the sense of this as an aching in my heart to be more like Jesus in one or more ways that I know I have not conformed my life to his. So I think it is good to pause to consider the beginning of this section in a different context from what Jesus likely intended. We know that Jesus is likely contrasting himself against the spiritual leaders of his day who tended to place burdens upon the sheep rather than tending to their needs.
Yet it occurs to me that I myself have very much been a thief and a robber in the broken parts of my life, by which I hurt those I love. Christ has delivered me from the worst of these in his grace, and the lesser of them he continues to work on patiently and lovingly.
This is a contrast of which it is good for us to be aware, so that we can choose to conform to Christ instead of continuing along our natural tendencies.
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