I travel with what I call “my entourage.” I know them very well, each of them. They follow me everywhere. I couldn’t shake them if I tried, and I wouldn’t want to anyway.  Even when they don’t respond, they know my voice. I would do anything for them, and sometimes they take advantage of that. I love them so much it can make my heart hurt, but they also drive me up the wall daily- my entourage, my gifts from God, my “flock of sheep,” my babies!

In this week’s Gospel Jesus calls us his sheep. Jesus says,  My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one. (Jn 10:27-30)

I think, as mothers, we understand this passage almost immediately. We get a small glimpse of how Jesus feels about us by reflecting on how we feel about our own children. The love, the joys, the sorrows we mothers feel for our own children are just like what Jesus feels for us.  

And isn’t it a blessing that we can make mistakes and that his love for us will never fail just like the love we feel for our children, despite their missteps, never fails? In the voices of our children is their love for us, just as in our maternal voices our children hear our love for them.

We call ourselves followers of Jesus, but do we always respond when we hear him speaking to us? Do we take advantage of his presence, knowing that we can always go to Adoration or Mass at another time when we’re feeling more up to the task? Goodness, we can be irritating sheep! Yet, Jesus continues to love us.   

It’s likely that I will never be able to understand how much Jesus really loves me, but I know how much I love my children, my entourage. This knowledge gets me a little bit closer to understanding his love—a love I will undoubtedly still sometimes take for granted, sometimes outright ignore, but always cherish and always desire.