Gospel in Art: Jesus said: 'I am the gate of the sheepfold'

The Shepherdess with her flock, by Julien Dupré (1851-1910), Painted in 1897 © Christian Art

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 22 April 2024
John 10:1-10

Jesus said:

'I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognise the voice of strangers.'

Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them.

So Jesus spoke to them again: 'I tell you most solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfold.

All others who have come are thieves and brigands; but the sheep took no notice of them. I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.'

Reflection on the painting

We continue the theme today of the shepherd and the sheep. The painting I am sharing with you is by Julien Dupré. It shows a shepherdess attending to her flock. She is gazing into the distance. Dupré specialised in unapologetically portraying daily life of ordinary rural, working people. Farmers, miners and street workers were his main themes, themes that were very novel at the time. At the beginning of his career in Paris, people wondered who would actually buy these paintings and want to hang them in their homes. But the new bourgeoisie in Paris found them charming, and so a whole genre of these realist paintings came to the fore during the 19th century.

Our figure looks rather solitary. She is pensive. Leading a flock comes with responsibility.

Whilst Jesus is talking about himself as the Shepherd we need to follow, our Gospel reading today also prompts us to think about our own leadership and initiative in our communities. Reading the Gospels yesterday and today probably makes us always identify with the sheep. Yes, we are sheep who are vulnerable to predators, we tend to walk into danger, even to get lost; we have a herd mentality; we graze and gaze at what is in front of us, but don't look at things in the distance… But today's reading is also calling us to be modern day shepherds ourselves: shepherds who start teaching lambs their own names as soon as they are born; shepherds who bring sheep to the Christian flock; shepherds who bring their flock to green pastures; shepherds who help produce the most magnificent wool.

Like Jesus, we can be shepherds, swinging open the gates of our love and care, welcoming everyone into the fields of our communities.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/john-10-1-10-2024/
Competition: The Laudamus Award 2024 for Sacred Art - www.indcatholicnews.com/news/4931