As I reflected on these paragraphs I couldn’t help but think of gospel of John chapter 10 and the words of Christ, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me.”
This passage has stayed with me since I made my first Poustinia where the only thing one takes into that 24 hour retreat besides a toothbrush and PJs is a bible. I had left mine behind but happily each room is supplied with one. In my case it was the 1966 Jerusalem Bible with all the notes.
The notes for John 10:14, quoted above, reads
In biblical language, cf Ho 2:22+, ‘knowledge’ is not merely the conclusion of an intellectual process, but the fruit of an ‘experience’, a personal contact (cf Jn 10:14-15 and 14:20; 17:21-22; cf. 14:17; 17:3; 2 Jn 1-2); when it matures, it is love, cf. Ho 6:6+ and 1 Jn 1:3+. [Emphasis mine.]
Jesus is no ordinary teacher. His pedagogy is personal. Not only does he teach “as one with authority” because he is God but he is a teacher who knows each of his students by name, intimately, personally, experientially.
It practically makes one want to declare with extemporaneous praise, “Praise the Lord.”
For the Catechism Project, this is your Artist + Illustrator + Occasional Catechist, owenswain of owenswain.com/blawg & Cross-posted here.
