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  The Good Shepherd Early Italian Christian Sculptor [ Web Gallery of Art ] WGA note on this sculpture :  The allegorical figure of the Good Shepherd was originally based on the pagan representation of a man bringing his offering to the altar but, by the 3rd century, had also come to represent the 'ram bearer' with its connotations of philanthropy and loving care. The latter image accorded well with the Christians’ understanding of a divine Shepherd who would lay down his life for his flock.  In a period of persecution, such images had the advantage of directly addressing the adherents of the Christian faith while not drawing attention to them, since the images were already popular with non-Christians  [ emphasis  added]. Readings ,  (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings ,  (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel ,  John 10:27-39 ( English Sta...

The Good Shepherd , Marten van Cleve   Gospel   John 10:27-30  ( NRSV, Catholic Ed . , Canada)  Jesus said:  “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.   I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.   What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.   The Father and I are one.” 'My sheep hear my voice' I know nothing about tending sheep and until I looked at the video above never quite understood the reality of the words of Jesus in today's gospel:   ‘My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me' . An extraordinary example of the power of words is a story involving   Fr Willie Doyle SJ , the army chaplain who was killed in 1917 in Belgium during the Great War. Some years before the War he was giving a retreat to a community of nuns in Ireland. He got a telegram on the last day from ...