In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes Himself in terms of gatekeeping. He states that He is someone who is known to the gatekeeper, someone who can be trusted. The gatekeeper recognizes Jesus and grants Him access into the sheepfold – and the sheep recognize His voice, they follow where He leads. Jesus is known and trusted. Today we are faced with a whole host of people and organizations who would like to be the gatekeepers of our lives – people who want to determine what we should know or not know; who want to decide what we should buy, whom we should vote for, where we should go on holiday, what values we should live by, what goals we shold strive towards. Many competing voices. And, as Jesus warned, there are many who seek entry into our lives who in fact are only in it for themselves, and who, if we follow them end up depriving us of life, and peace, and happiness. Jesus invites us to let Him be our gatekeeper.
Like sheep in the story, we are called to recognize His voice and to decide to follow where He leads. We can pray to be blessed with good shepherds and trustworthy gatekeepers. But, more than that, Jesus also asks us to follow where he leads. He invites us to be like Himself – to be good shepherds and trustworthy gatekeepers to each other.