Today's gospel continues the Good Shepherd theme of yesterday's liturgy. Our dear Lord cautions us so we learn to discern good from bad, i.e., the good helps us to reach our true and final destiny, namely, heaven; but there are other actors in this theater of operations who are not interested in us getting there, but they exert their influence on us by wiles, deceptions, lies, etc., to get us to another destination, hell. This is the first principle we need to be aware of. In this trip to Heaven, there are obstacles and enemies, namely, the devil, the world, and the flesh. Thus, we should see the importance of God providing us the figure of the good Shepherd who leads and defends His sheepfold. We need to follow His lead. We need His discernment to filter out those who are thieves or robbers.
