Jesus wants us to have abundant life.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
The only way to stay out of the hands of thieves and robbers is to follow only the voice of the shepherd. Only he is the way to the pastures for which we are meant. He is the only gate to the place we truly want to go. There are many other doors, but none of them lead to life.
Jesus wants to welcome all peoples to follow him. He is the way. There are no limits (or quotas) on who may pass through the gate that is Jesus himself.
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
'John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
The Good Shepherd leads us by quiet waters and refreshes our souls with this Holy Spirit. He does this for Jew and Greek, woman and man, slave and free. He does it for all, regardless of what we have done. He does it without considering what we truly deserve. The invitation is simply to come and enter through Jesus and drink from the springs of life giving water that flow from his side. Because we ourselves don't deserve the gift we are all the more eager to share it.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
And so we go. The world needs to know. Jesus is calling us all. He says, 'Enter through me and find life.'
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
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