‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.  So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:1-10)

It took from 33 A.D. to 70 A.D. to bring down the “Calvary Gang” that dispatched Jesus after a mock trial, and later persecuted Christ’s followers. This time it will be much shorter because “if those days had not been cut short, no flesh had been saved; but on account of the elect those days shall be cut short.” (Matthew 24:22) We are living the days predicted by Matthew 24. I am convinced that’s the case because the verses are clearly being opened to my understanding now.

The elect are the New Israel, the Church currently eclipsed. I said ‘eclipsed’ not defeated. Christ was not defeated at Mount Calvary but the satan was. A deep darkness came over the whole land when Jesus died. He also was eclipsed from Good Friday until Glory Sunday.

I said here before that many verses of Scripture are being opened to my understanding. I am sure I’m not the only one experiencing that. The verses above, taken from John 10:1-10 are included in my currently expanding understanding. Here we can see two characters: the shepherd of the sheep and the thief.

The shepherd enters by the gate

It is easy to see who is the third character in this brief allegory. God the father opens the gate. Read John 6:44. There the Shepherd says:

No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me.

Now we know who the Gatekeeper is and who is the Gate because Jesus declares Himself to be the gate. There is also a hidden figure there: the pen, the sheepfold that is most obviously a figure of the Church the same way Israel had been in ancient times.

No one can belong to the flock without being called by the Father. The Church that subsists (to use Pope Benedict’s expression) is contained in that pen. A thief can climb his way into the sheepfold using any means but the sheep will recognize him by his actions and also because he does not have the same voice of their Shepherd. The thief is not recognized by the sheep as their Shepherd. Those who follow the thief are obviously not of the Shepherd’s flock. The thief has his own flock.

In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit. Petrus Romanus, qui pascet oves in multis tribulationibus, quibus transactis civitas septicollis diruetur, & judex tremendus judicabit populum suum. Finis.

In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.

I find the grammatical structure of this final paragraph (ending the famous List of Popes allegedly by St. Malachi) very telling. The paragraph tells us about Peter the Roman “who will pasture his sheep” and the dreadful Judge (presumably Our Lord Jesus Christ) judging his own people.

It seems to me there is some kind of division going on. This reminds us of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats found in Matthew 25:31-46  showing two flocks, one inheriting salvation and the other going to perdition.

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. (Matthew 25:31-46)

I do not know if there are others who see the same implications I see. I dare not to be more specific. I only ask you to discern sincerely. I think we are living in times similar to the Exodus of Israel. Suddenly this whole planet starts looking like a pen where the sheep of Christ are ready to be gathered.

Good Lord. Please save Your people, Your sheep.

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