Christ's sheepfold

The fourth Sunday of Easter in all three liturgical cycles is usually called "Good Shepherd Sunday". On this day all Christians are invited to pray for their spiritual shepherds, their priests, and also for priestly vocations. The priest's function is to take care of the community entrusted to him, and it is therefore our duty to pray for our priests in our own country and in all parts of the world.

The message conveyed by the word "shepherd" is probably not so meaningful today as it used to be in the past, at any rate in Jesus's times, when most people lived and worked in the fields. In today's industrialised society, with most families living in towns and large cities, the meaning suggested by the words "sheep" and "shepherd" hardly suggests such ideas as love and personal relationship as those intended by Christ. Going back, therefore, to what Jesus had in mind when he said "I am the Good Shepherd", three considerations come to mind.

The first is: Christ is our shepherd in the sense that each one of us as Christians belongs to him, just as each one of the sheep in the entire fold is the shepherd's property. Jesus therefore takes care of us, leads us to good pastures, and gives us protection and all the help we need.

When the good shepherd "lays down his life" for his sheep, Jesus is referring to all the suffering he endured during his passion and death on the cross. Suffering itself is not love, but it can no doubt be a genuine test of true love.

Our Lord's interest in his fold is still a reality today, reflected in the work of the priest or "pastor" (another word for "shepherd"), who dedicates much of his time and energy for the good of the faithful entrusted to him and often goes out of his way to provide the spiritual food they need.

The second thought regards the care which Jesus, the Good Shepherd, takes of each one of us as individual members of his flock. "My sheep are known to me and I know them." While not overlooking the importance of the flock as a whole, which is the whole Church, which even as such is dear to him, Our Lord's knowledge and care are directed to each one of us as individual Christians.

We are all different from one another, and this is so not only on the human level, each one with one's own character and idiosyncrasy, but also as Christians called to different vocations in the Church and therefore needing different kinds of spiritual assistance: as individuals, parents, lay men and women fulfilling their specific roles in the Church.

Thirdly, it is good for us to reflect on the concluding words of the passage. "I have other sheep too, which do not belong to this fold; I must bring them in too... so there will be one fold and one shepherd." A great part of the human race, while still being the object of his redeeming love, still does not acknowledge him as their true shepherd, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who gave up his life for them no less than for Christians.

This consideration is sad enough in itself. But no less sad is that even within Christ's fold there are still many divisions: Christians of different denominations, believing in Christ as the one Lord and Saviour, and yet not yet fully united among themselves, to form the one flock he wanted. We have entered here into the whole field of the ecumenical movement, which should interest every true follower of Christ and be the object of his genuine efforts and prayers.