Daily reflection _ belief and loyalty

BELIEF AND LOYALTY
Jesus does not want to win us over with logic and arguments, but rather with the loving power of His presence.
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
Two persons can examine the same evidence from an event and come to entirely different conclusions. Jesus and the Jews in the Portico of Solomon show this clearly. The Jews tell Jesus to lay all the cards on the table and demonstrate to them that He is the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Son of God. But Jesus replies that He has already done that, and they, by choice, have rejected His logic and, more importantly, rejected Jesus Christ.
The saints and holy people that have gone before us have shown us over the centuries that belief and loyalty are two sides of the same coin. Being a follower of Jesus Christ does not consist essentially in reading, studying and agreeing with everything that is written. Jesus does not want to win us over with logic and arguments, but rather with the loving power of His presence.
In today's Gospel of John, we hear the words of Jesus, "My sheep hear My voice; I know them, and they follow Me" (Jn 10:27). Jesus speaks of the tremendous trust that He has for the Father, and that we also should have for the Father. A sheep without a shepherd is defenseless. That is why shepherds literally live with their sheep out in the open fields. The shepherd guards the sheep against dangers of storms, floods, and other animals that want to destroy them. The shepherd also leads the sheep to the best places for feeding and drinking fresh water. This is the best part of it all: the sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd and listen to his call which leads them to safe pastures. We are like sheep. We need Jesus to free us from sin and death. He leads us to the best places where we can feed on the "Word of God," and drink from the "living waters" of His holy presence in our lives. We the sheep who listen to the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will have no fear because He leads us to the best place: the place that is everlasting!
Our prayer today is from our responsorial psalm: "All you nations, praise the Lord" (Ps 87:6-7). The boundaries of our hearts are enlarged, Jesus, when we say, "My home is within You." We are children of every race. We come together because all have become one in You, my Lord.