There’s this incredible, intimate relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. The shepherd knows the sheep, and the sheep know the shepherd. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice, and they follow him. And they won’t follow the voice of a stranger. They won’t follow the voice of somebody they don’t know. The sheep have to know the voice, and they know that voice, and [they] follow [Him]….If Jesus Christ is our pastor, if He is our shepherd, then we belong to Him. We’re His. He owns us. We do not belong to [ourselves]…It means we are not our own ruler. We are not our own king. We are subjects. Yes, it’s true. We are. If we’re creatures, we have a Creator. If we’re creatures, we have [a Lord]. We’re subjects. We are servants. And we identify [ourselves] that way, and we’re proud of it, so to speak. We boast of it. We’re not ashamed of it. We’re not ashamed to be called servants. We’re not ashamed to be called slaves. We’re not ashamed to be called subjects. We’re not ashamed to be called sheep. We’re not ashamed to be called a flock, or [lambs]. In fact, what we’re saying is that we belong to another. We belong to God. We belong to a Lord. – Fr. Thomas Hopko #orthodox #orthodoxy #orthodoxchurch #christian #wisdomofthefathers #frthomashopko #thegoodshepherd
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