There are two interesting characteristics of sheep.

First, sheep are dumb. They are afflicted with a certain dumbness - which I’d like to call holy dumbness. Second, at the same time, they are intelligent. They are in possession of a certain innate intelligence - which I would like to call holy intelligence.

Sheep are dumb because they are totally dependent on the shepherd. Without the shepherd, they can’t find their way. They need a shepherd to lead them out for pasture in the morning and lead them back into the sheepfold at night for protection from wild animals. On their own, the sheep cannot do this.

Have we not experienced God leading, protecting, and caring for us? Have we not experienced being in a certain crisis in life and finding God in it - experiencing that without him we wouldn’t have found our way? These are times when we experience our holy dumbness and God’s shepherding of us.

Sheep are Intelligent because they can recognize the voice of their shepherd who calls them. They may be so helpless without the shepherd, but they are gifted with this inner sense by which they can tell whether it is their own shepherd who calls or someone pretending to be him. It is said that even if two shepherds got both their flocks together in one place, when one of them calls out his sheep, only those that belong to him will move out and follow him.

One question that is often asked in discernment is: how can you tell whether it is the holy spirit or just yourself that is prompting you? While there may be objective criteria for this, objective criteria alone won’t suffice. Ultimately, God’s grace is not simply indoctrinated from the outside. For us to be able to discern (if this is possible at all), we must have - of course through God’s grace - in possession of a certain inner criterion by which we can tell whether something is from God or not. And this holy intelligence either deepens because of our growing familiarity and friendship with the Lord or is blocked by hardness of heart and deafness to God's call. In either case, the capacity to hear and recognize his voice must be there.

We recognize him because he is the shepherd who laid down his life for us - not like a hired hand who leaves us when danger comes or who leads us astray. We recognize him by his cura personalis. He calls us by name. We know He is because only in him we feel secure and loved.

Does this parable of the relationship between sheep and shepherd speak to your experience of God?

Psalm 23 doesn’t grow old because it speaks of this experience of God:

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul.

He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me.

This psalm is a song of trust in the Divine Shepherd. May we rest secure in His arms.