The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, April 21, 2024 as the Fourth Sunday of Easter – Year B. In the entrance antiphon, we pray, “The merciful love of the Lord fills the earth; by the word of the Lord the heavens were made. Alleluia.”
This Sunday is called the Good Shepherd Sunday. This name derives from the gospel reading of this day, taken from the 10th chapter of John in which Jesus is described as the Good Shepherd who, by dying on the Cross, lays down his life for his sheep. It is also called Vocations Sunday and is marked as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The purpose of this day is to fulfill Jesus’ instruction to “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38).
Pope Francis entitles his message for this Sunday “Called to Sow Seeds,” and he says, among things, that his thoughts go to “all those who have accepted God’s call to the ordained priesthood, devoting themselves to the preaching of the Gospel, breaking open their own lives, together with the bread of the Eucharist, for their brothers and sisters, sowing seeds of hope and revealing to all the beauty of God’s kingdom.”
Vocations Sunday was instituted 61 years ago by Pope Paul VI when he urged Christians to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. “The problem of having sufficient priests,” the Holy Father said, “has an immediate impact on all the faithful: not simply because they depend on it for the religious future of Christian society, but also because this problem is the precise and inescapable indicator of the vitality of faith and love of individual parish and diocesan communities, and the evidence of the moral health of Christian families. Wherever numerous vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life are to be found, that is where people are living the Gospel with generosity.” (Paul VI, Radio Message, 11 April 1964).
In the first reading of this day’s Mass, from Acts of the Apostles, we see Peter and John continuing Christ’s ministry of preaching and healing for which they are arrested. With their arrest, the persecution of the young church begins in Jerusalem. In the second reading from First John, the Beloved Apostle tells us what it takes to be considered children of God. God’s gift to us has been his Son through whom it has become possible for us to become God’s sons and daughters. In the Gospel, Saint John presents us Christ as the good shepherd, who protects his sheep with his life.
First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 4: 8-12.
In those days: Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is 'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.' There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."
Comment
In the passage selected for our meditation, we see how the apostles, Peter and John, continue Jesus’ mission of preaching and healing. For that, they meet the same fate as their Master. They are arrested, and with their arrest begins the persecution of the young Church right in her birthplace, Jerusalem. Peter speaks out boldly, with the voice of the Spirit of God, to the leaders of Israel responsible for Christ’s death. The consequence of the persecution of the apostles is the dispersal of Christians from Jerusalem to the other regions of Palestine where they boldly proclaim the Risen Lord, thus making converts of many non-Jews, the Gentiles, to the faith. Their confidence in front of the leaders of Israel is quite remarkable. “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard,” Peter tells them.
What does this reaction of Peter and the other apostles tell us, my brothers and sisters? Simply that we have the duty to confess our faith boldly and openly, no matter the consequences. Saint Jose Maria Escriva de Ballaguer, the Founder of the Opus Dei Movement, tells us in one of his books, Friends of God, that “Christians who let themselves be browbeaten or become inhibited or envious in the face of the licentious behavior of those who do not accept the Word of God, show that they have a very poor idea of faith. If we truly fulfill the law of Christ, that is, if we make the effort to do so, for we will not always fully succeed, we will find ourselves endowed with a wonderful gallantry of spirit.”
Let us be like Saint Peter and the other apostles, who openly bear witness to the resurrection of the Lord in front of the Jewish authorities, who, like the Sadducees, reject the resurrection of the dead. Saint Peter applies the words of Psalm 118 to Christ, the stone the builders rejected that has become the cornerstone of the edifice. He invokes the name of Jesus, which is all powerful because it is the name of our Lord and Savior, the only name by which we are saved. Jesus himself had told his disciples and is telling us now that “If you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name” (Jn 16:23). Today, more than ever before, the power of this name continues to work wonders in our lives.
We are invited in the Liturgy of the Hours to pray: “God our Father, you are calling us to prayer, at the same hour as the Apostles went up to the Temple. Grant that the prayer we offer with sincere hearts in the name of Jesus may bring salvation to all who call upon that holy name. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen, alleluia.”
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-2.
Beloved: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Comment
In the passage selected for our meditation, Saint John invites us to live a life worthy of God’s children. God’s gift to us has been his Son. In him, it is possible for us to become God’s sons and daughters ourselves. We are already his children through Baptism. We only know God in faith but when the time comes, the image of him, which we only now have vaguely, will become more intimate as we see him face to face and love him as he loves us. This love he manifests to us through the ultimate gift of his Son to suffer and die for us.
As God’s children, let us avoid offending God through sin because those who sin, choose to belong to Satan, not to God. So let us pray for the grace to reject Satan and all his empty promises and to embrace God by adoring his Son, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, who died and rose from the dead that we may have eternal life in the Father. Amen. Alleluia.
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. I am a good shepherd, says the Lord. I know my sheep, and mine know me. Alleluia.”
Gospel: John 10: 11-18.
Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away--and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."
Comment
One of the most popular images of pastoral care is that of the shepherd who leads his large flock and protects them from harm. In the time of Jesus many herds consisted of thousands of sheep and it required highly skilled men to look after them and protect them from animal and human predators.
Shepherding was a dangerous occupation; outdoor living was tough and rough. During the long dry season, the shepherds had to move their flocks in search of greener pastures. The image of the Good Shepherd is a favourite theme of the Old Testament prophetic literature: the chosen people of God is the flock, Yahweh is their shepherd (Ps 23). Kings and priests are also described as shepherds. Jeremiah condemns those pastors who have left the sheep to go astray and in God’s name promises new pastors who will take proper care of their flocks (Jer 23: 1-6).
Ezekiel also condemns pastors for their greed, misdeeds and neglect of their duties. He tells them that Yahweh will take the flock away from them and he himself will look after their sheep (Ez 34). He promises a unique shepherd who will descend from David to graze and protect God’s flock. Jesus presents himself as that shepherd who looks after his flock, seeks out the stray ones, cures the crippled and carries the weak on his shoulders, thereby fulfilling the ancient prophecies (Mt 18: 12-14; Lk 15: 4-7).
In this day’s Gospel, Jesus applies to himself the image of the good shepherd, anxiously tending his sheep to the point where he is willing to surrender his own life for them. He blends the image of tenderness and toughness, care and self-sacrifice. The term shepherd implies an image of responsible leadership, devotion to duty and concern for others. A good shepherd knows his sheep by name and they know his voice and follow only him. They know that he will lead them to safety. They never follow anyone whose voice they do not recognize because it could be voice of a mercenary, who is only out for his money and does not care for the safety of the sheep.
In addition to the title of Good Shepherd, Christ applies to himself the image of the door through which his sheep pass to safety. The Fathers of Vatican II tell us that “The Church is a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to Christ. It is also a flock of which God foretold that he himself would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, although watched over by human shepherds, are nevertheless at all times led and brought to pasture by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd, the prince of shepherds, who gave his life for his sheep” (Lumen gentium, 6).
How does Jesus appear as the good shepherd in Sacred Scripture? In his life and in his death, Jesus sought out the lost and the least. He tackled his opponent, the Scribes and the Pharisees, face to face, especially in defence of the weak. He is defensive whenever his disciples are attacked. He will not let anyone of his own go astray; he goes out in search of the lost ones and is not satisfied until he brings them back to the fold. This is the image of Jesus’ pastoral care. He searches until he brings back the lost one. He does not wait for them to come to him; he goes out in search of them. Immediately after his resurrection, he goes out in search of his disciples who are holed up in a room for fear of persecution. He waits for them with food by the seashore when they go out to fish, and when they come back empty handed, he tells them where to throw their net for a catch.
This Gospel challenges us to also be good shepherds to others. You probably know one or two people who have wandered away from the Church, who have lost their sense of belonging, who feel they have no community to belong to. How will they know that they are welcome back if no one tells them? And who is that someone except you and me? How will they be helped back to the Church if no one offers to accompany them back home? And that someone does not necessarily have to be a priest or an ordained minister of God. It can be you; it can be me.
We Christians have to play a leading role in redeeming the world. That demands strenuous work, persistence and perseverance in doing good. The witness of our Christian life has to be the light that is leading others to Christ. So let us ask the Holy Spirit to teach us to be good shepherds in our families, at our job sites, and especially in our parish community.
As we pray this Sunday for more and good vocations in our church, let us say this Diocesan Prayer for Vocations: “Heavenly Father, we ask you to send labourers into your harvest. Inspire, in the hearts of your people, vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and religious life. Bless our families with a spirit of generosity, so that those whom you call have the courage to give themselves to your Church in faith. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, he who lives and reigns with you in union with the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen. Alleluia.”
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