The Lord is my shepherd

A famous actor at a social function was called on to
give some recitations. He recited poems, love songs, pieces
from Shakespearean plays. Eventually, one of the guests, an
old priest, asked him to recite Psalm 23, “The Lord Is My
Shepherd.” The actor’s performance was technically perfect
and warmly applauded. The actor then turned the tables and
asked the old priest to recite the same psalm. At times the
priest faltered, and his delivery was far from perfect, but by
the time he had reached the end of the psalm, he had moved
many in his audience to tears. The actor stood up and said:
“The difference between us is this: I know the passage, he
knows the Shepherd!”
The English language has only one word for knowing,
whether it is knowing people or knowing facts. Many other
languages, such as French and German, have different words
to distinguish knowing a fact from knowing a person. These
are two completely different orders of knowing, as the actor
recognized. Knowing about someone is completely different
from really knowing someone.
In this weekend’s Gospel, Jesus points to himself as the
shepherd of a flock. He says he knows his sheep and that they
know him, for they listen to his voice. In a sense, our growth
in faith is a moving beyond just knowing about Jesus to
getting to actually know him, having a real, living relationship
with him. It is the difference between religion and faith,
between theory and experience.
We must continually ask ourselves: “What is the quality
of our knowledge of Christ?” Does it remain on the level of
just knowing facts about him: where he was born, things he
said, and how he died? Or do we actually know him? Do we
have a real, living relationship with him? Do we follow where
he leads, by living as he wishes us to live? Do we recognize
his voice in our loved ones, in daily events? Do we make
space to hear him speak to us in prayer, in Scripture, in
celebrating the Sacraments in community? Do we recognize
his voice at all, or is our very religious practice a clever means
of keeping Jesus at a comfortable distance, making sure we
don’t actually ever have to get to know him?
Knowing Jesus must make a difference! If we truly know
him, it will inspire us, as it inspired St. Paul, to share our
knowledge of Christ with others. As with St. John, our love
for Christ should give us a yearning for the day when we will
be brought together as a family united with God, when there
will be no more hunger or thirst, no more tears of sadness.
And if that is what we truly hope for, then we will surely work
to make these things more of a reality in our own world today.