Abundant Life
In our Gospel reading for Sunday (John 10:1-10), Jesus uses both the image of a shepherd and the image of a gate for the sheep to describe His love for the world: “…whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep…Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus knows us and calls us by name. He seeks to give us “pasture,” a setting, so to speak, where we can grow and thrive. And He has done this by giving of Himself, As we are reminded in our second reading (1 Peter 2:20b-25): “By his wounds you have been healed.”
As I was reflecting on all this, I came to the question of what it means to have life “more abundantly.” Does it mean to have more material wealth, or more worldly power over others? I seriously doubt that is what Jesus means. I believe it has something to do with being free from slavery to sin; being free from fear; being relieved “of the bondage of self.”
What does it mean to have “abundant life?”
St. Peter connects Jesus’ sacrifice to how we are called to live our lives: “Beloved: If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps…He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness.”
Could it be that love and sacrifice are part of abundant life?
Or is sacrifice something we endure until we are rewarded in heaven? I think Jesus is calling us to something beyond worldly logic or consideration. To answer God’s call to love as Jesus loves gives us a peace and joy the world cannot give. I would like to share with you a prayer offered by a Buddhist at a prayer service for peace at Madonna University in Livonia, MI, near Detroit some years ago:
May I be happy. May I be peaceful. May I be free.
May my friends be happy. May my friends be peaceful. May my friends be free.
May my enemies be happy. May my enemies be peaceful. May my enemies be free.
May all beings be happy. May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be free.
Maybe, just maybe, my having abundant life won’t be fully realized until there is abundant life for all.
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In the Risen Christ,
Phil, CP
