Fr Leonard E Dollentas
Today, the 4th Sunday of Easter, is Good Shepherd Sunday. This is the reason why today’s readings revolve around the truth of faith that Christ is our Shepherd and we who form part of his Church, are his sheepfold, his flock called to participate in his admirable victory over sin and death. He is also the gateway to salvation and eternal pasture such that Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture
Are we good shepherds?
Are we good shepherds? Who is the good shepherd? ‘He who enters by the door’ of faithfulness to the Church’s doctrine and does not act like the hireling ‘who sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees’; whereupon ‘the wolf snatches them and scatters them’” (St. Josemaria, Christ is passing by, 34). If we have to be good shepherds, we should lead them to Christ, to salvation and eternal life and we could do this only when we enter by the door who is Christ. What does entering by the door which is Christ mean? It means entering by the door of His Sheepfold (the True Church) in order to know, love and identify ourselves with Him and love His life. Do we have this intimate relationship with Christ by dealing frequently with him in prayer, in the sacraments, Gospel meditation? Do we know Christ’s doctrine as taught by His One True Church? For we cannot give what we do not have. If we need to be good shepherds according to Christ’s example, we need to know his life and strive to imitate him. Thus, we could nourish others not with our criteria but Christ’s criteria, virtues, and good example.
Christ as Good Shepherd has these characteristics:
He lays down his life for his sheep (total self-giving); he calls them by their name (intimate knowledge and union with his flock); he is concerned not only with his sheep but also those which do not belong to his fold) sincere concern and at the service of unity among all people.
TOTAL SELF-GIVING: Total self-giving has to be carried out not just once, we must be committed to show it day by day, as Christ does in the Holy Eucharist. Parents often sacrifice their sleep to care for their babies, especially during the early years of parenting. Many mothers experience sleepless nights, where they must wake up multiple times to feed or comfort their infants, leading to significant sleep deprivation. This sacrifice is a total self-giving of parents, where the emotional and physical demands of raising a child can overshadow personal needs.
KNOWLEDGE: I KNOW MY SHEEP. But then there is no true knowledge without love, without an inner relationship and deep acceptance of the other. Not just by knowing names. One must know the heart so that one can help the other. A Father has a son on his last year of university studies. Towards his graduation, the son opened up, he did not pass even one subject. The father was sad, but after initial and obvious disappointment, he did not abandon his son, he totally understood his situation and promised to give him another chance if the son tried to be committed to his studies. This reminds us of the father of the prodigal son who never abandons us in spite all our failings.
SINCERE CONCERN AND SERVICE TO ALL, knowing that Jesus has come in order to save us all: not only the just, but above all, the sinners; not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well. This can be translated by asking God to grant us a huge and merciful forgiving heart where all can fit in, not only our family and loved ones, but those whom we don’t know and even those who are against us or who have caused us harm, or those who do not belong to the Catholic faith.
There was priest who encountered a young man from Macau studying in a Portuguese university, and who wanted to learn Portuguese faster. The priest introduced the young man to a Catholic layman of his parish. The layman helped him a lot with his language practice. With his frequent dealings with him and his friendship, the young man got interested with the Catholic faith. After some years later the young man received the grace of conversion and vocation from God. It all started with this apostolic zeal of the priest in introducing the young man to a Catholic layman.
Are we good sheep?
Therefore, we are called to be good sheep. How? Through docility and obedience to the Good Shepherd: the teachings of Christ and his Church, and all the virtuous commands of the faithful instruments God gave us to guide us to his eternal pasture.
May we always remember of this great task and responsibility which Our Lord placed on our shoulders to bring the people around us to heaven by being good shepherds to others and good sheep at the same time through our prayers, sacrifices, good counsel and example and coherent Christian life and apostolate of friendship. For in the end, our life will be a failure if we do not reach our heavenly goal which Our Lord gained for us and to which He wants to lead us through His Church and His instruments.
May we always support and pray for all the holiness, fidelity, and apostolic zeal of all the priests and vocations to the Church.
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