To Smell like the Sheep: A Maryknoll Reflection

By Antoinette (Nonie) Gutzler, M.M.

May 11, 2025
Acts 13:14, 43-52 | Rv 7:9, 14b-17 | Jn 10:27-30

As the memory of Pope Francis lingers in our hearts, the words of today’s Gospel from St. John, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me,” capture well the meaning of Francis’ life and papacy.

The crowds lining up to pay their respects to Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica gave witness to the reality that his voice was heard and recognized by migrants, refugees, prisoners, the poor and all those marginalized by Church and society. For the past 12 years, crowds came to see him, and perhaps held the hope that his hand would reach out to give a blessing. They came to him not only in the recognition of his voice but, as he admonished his priests, because he had the “smell of the sheep” that made him leader, “one of the flock,” and worthy of trust. When we have the “smell of the sheep,” inclusion, reconciliation, and healing become realities of our ministries and the hallmark of our life in God.

This recognition renders this Gospel as most fitting for today’s celebration of Mother’s Day. We tend to think of only men as shepherds, but our Scriptures give witness to women who were shepherds and whose voice called to their sheep and who had their “smell.” On this day, we may ask: who and where are our shepherds today – those calling new life to come forth with courage and support, in the midst of daily struggles and suffering?

We find them in the courage of Maryknoll Lay Missioners such as Heidi Cerneka, who traveled with a fact-finding group to the Darién Gap on the Colombia-Panama border to assess the dangers of the migrants fleeing to find a better life. And again in the ministry of Dee Dungy as she accompanies the women refugees in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, sharing their stories and bonding as shepherds to one another.

The voice of Sister Hyun Jung Kim is heard in East Timor, where she has been given the designation ‘Foreign Grandmother’ as she travels the roads “seeing” the needs of the people in the villages and bringing healing strength. And in Guatemala, Sister Dee Smith, in the spirit of Isaiah, “like a shepherd … feeds her flock and gathers them all in her arms carrying them close to her heart” as she cries in distress over lack of funding for the medicine needed for those she ministers to and cares for with HIV/AIDS.

This Sunday, we are called to hear the voice of Jesus and to have the “smell of the sheep” — a daunting and most necessary calling. Of course, it requires courage. But, as Sister Dee reflects: “In the heart of it, in the darkness, we have to be light. So I would like to encourage all of us to remember: When confronting darkness, do not forget the power of the light that we hold.” And the light we hold is the powerful and moving relationship between sheep and shepherd, as the shepherd’s voice is heard bringing comfort, inclusion and belonging to all.

Sister Antoinette “Nonie” Gutzler, of Brooklyn, New York, joined the Maryknoll Sisters in 1964. She has served on assignments to Tanzania, Taiwan and the United States, where she served as president of the Maryknoll Sisters from 2015 to 2021. Sister Gutzler holds a doctorate in systematic theology from Fordham University.

To read other Scripture reflections published by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, click here. 

Featured image: Pope Francis, who was known for the warmth of his pastoral approach, greets cheering crowds in Vatican City. The pontiff died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, after a far-reaching and influential papacy that lasted 12 years. (Ágatha Depiné/Unsplash/Vatican City)