The sheep and the shepherd

The fourth Sunday of Easter is called Good Shepherd Sunday". In fact, in all three liturgical years of the Church's calendar, we are presented with various sections taken from Our Lord's own discourse about himself as the Good Shepherd. The Church, furthermore, invites the faithful on this day to pray for priestly vocations and for the priests who all over the world are dedicating their lives for the service and sanctification of the faithful.

While the metaphor about Jesus as the Good Shepherd does not suggest much to us in this day and age, when most people do not live in the countryside, but in cities and large towns where no sheep or shepherd are ever to be seen, it is nonetheless very suitable for suggesting to one and all some deep reflections on Our Lord's attitude to each one of us.

Like a good shepherd, in fact, Jesus knows us all not as a herd, but individually, no matter how numerous we are both as Christians and also as human beings. Jesus knows what our good qualities are and expects us to make good use of them for the good of our neighbour and for our own sanctification. But he is also aware of our defects and limitations and tries to help us at all times with his grace, enabling us to overcome them.

Just as the shepherd takes care of his sheep, so does Jesus. He provides us with the spiritual food and with all the help we need for our own survival and well-being as Christians. He is always there, at our disposal, giving us testimony of his unwavering interest in each one of us. And just as a good shepherd goes out of his way to heal whichever evil may have been inflicted on his sheep, so does Jesus.

Sometimes we may have hurt ourselves because of sin. Being his own sheep, all we need to do is to take refuge in the divine shepherd, whose greatest desire is to heal our spiritual wounds through forgiveness and his deepest joy is to see us spiritually healthy once more.

The sheep in the fold know their shepherd well: they are familiar with his voice and immediately recognise him as soon as he pronounces a word or gives them a sign to which they are accustomed. Their response is immediate, because they 'love' him, if I may use this word, and they know that he 'loves' them too.

The sheep in the fold, no matter how numerous, gradually develop within themselves a deep sense of security, not only because they know that their shepherd loves them, but especially because they are aware that should anything happen to them he is always there and always able to heal them.

We Christians have much to learn from today's Gospel, at a time when everybody tends to go his own way, to run away from the fold of the Church, at least factually if not formally. And they do this only to their own detriment, as they would no doubt soon realise.

It can never be too late, however, for Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is always there, still loving us and still trying with his grace to lure us back to the fold. At this point we cannot refrain from bringing to mind the beautiful gospel parable about the Prodigal son.

As hinted above, the Lord is inviting us today to pray for all our shepherds in the Church, starting from our Pope and going down to our own bishops and priests, who take care of all our spiritual needs with much love and dedication.