Jesus, you enter through the door of the gaze.

Alda Merini

In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes a solemn affirmation: “I am the good shepherd” (Ego eimi ò poimen ò kalós) (Jn 10:11). We note, Jesus adds a qualification to the term “shepherd” which in Greek is kalós. Kalós should not be translated with «good» (moral quality) but with «appropriate», «suitable». Jesus is therefore the just shepherd who realizes in himself and spreads around him the most tender love of the Father, a love that gives
life until death. This is why kalós has also been translated as «beautiful», as Jesus is the full bodily incarnation of God’s gratuitous love. For this reason he is in contrast with three negative types of pastors: the thief, the brigand and the stranger. Who am I? Simple, they are those who abuse their power against the flock entrusted to them. They are therefore called thieves, because they steal with cunning and fraud; brigands, because in steal they use violence; strangers, because they have no vital relationship with the sheep. Today’s song however, presents another image, that of the door (cf. Jn 10:6-10). The door just doesn’t articulate entering and exiting, but, in its symbolic value, indicates the totality of a house. Claiming to be the door of the sheep, Jesus affirms that he is the true temple, the living one where men will be able to meet God. We need to know, in this regard, that the so-called Door of the sheep, in the time of Jesus, was located on the side northeast of the city wall. It was a shaa’r (שער) because the sheep that passed through it they were subsequently sacrificed in the temple. But that is not all. Jesus, identifying himself with the door, does not only appear as the only mediator with God but also as the true access through which every man can enter contact into with himself.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Santa Maria – Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey