Good Shepherd Sunday

[Jesus said:] "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

John 10:1-10

The Good Shepherd

DUPRE, Julien

1851-1910

French

California Palace of the Legion of Honor

San Francisco, California, USA

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54256

Images of women agricultural workers became a popular subject in French painting of the mid-late 19th century. Julien Dupre drew on that popular theme and moved it to allegory, with the naming of a shepherdess as the "good shepherd." Christ, the spiritual Good Shepherd, becomes a calming presence without being pictured, simply by the artist's use of sheep, staff/rod, and one who tends the flock.

Out of clutter, find simplicity.

From discord, find harmony.

In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.

~ Albert Einstein

All major religions carry basically the same message.
That is love, compassion, and forgiveness.
The important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.
~ Dalai Lama