Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
May 8, 2022: The Good Shepherd Sunday / IV Sunday of Easter
Acts 13: 14,43-52; Revelations 7: 9, 14-17; John 10: 27-30
The Good Shepherd Sunday, as this fourth Sunday of Easter is popularly called, presents to us our identity as the flock of God, and also the way the Lord wishes to relate to us: as the Good Shepherd who calls us, who challenges us and who cherishes us, every bit.
Speaking of the shepherd we are immediately inspired to think of our leaders and pastors – the ecclesiastical leaders and the responsible authorities in the civil society. Yes, they have an obligation on their part to be instruments in the hands of God, in taking care of the people, for God has willed into existence every human person on earth. Wherever a person or persons suffer due to injustice and iniquity of the other, the leaders and authorities are responsible for it and they owe an explanation to the Lord. Added to it, the people or the human persons, are called to understand their relatedness to each other, arising from the common origin that all have – the Divine.
Anywhere a person or a section of humanity suffers, every human person in one way or the others, is answerable for it. This being the universal picture that is projected by the Shepherd Sunday, there is a particular message for the so-called people of God, those who have responded to that special call to belong to the community that is identified as the Lord’s Flock.
Firstly, the flock is CALLED – called, picked, chosen, offered an opportunity, called by name, chosen from the rest, privileged with an invitation, given a vocation… that is what we are! This can be realised more and more today, with all the pluralism that exists, pluralism of all kinds in the very choice to believe in a God or now, the choice of the creed of experience, the choice to make it a life choice or not, the choice of expression in its degree, kind and level – in all these we need to realise that we are called. The first reading presents that reality in concrete – there were those who considered themselves traditionally ‘chosen’…but there were others who were predilectively ‘chosen’. It may be true that we have chosen or we have made the choice to believe or to respond to the call of faith, but going into the depth and analysing, we see we could not have done it if we were not chosen, in the first place. Is this not what the Lord says: “You did not choose me; I chose you!”
Exactly because of this, the flock is constantly CHALLENGED – you cannot take for granted that you belong to the flock once and for all, automatically once you have entered into it in a formal sense. No. One needs to keep confirming it consciously in three ways – listening, following and belonging. Listening to the voice of the Shepherd, the voice that is heard in a myriad of ways – through the Word daily, through the tradition and the authoritative teaching, through the word from the neighbour or brother or sister, through the events of the day, through the sufferings of people, through the cry of the poor, through the unrest of the soul, and so on. Listening to the voice is an essential need of a flock of God. While listening is the first step, following the Lord, or doing what the Lord would do in those circumstances is another duty. Hence, to stand of the truth, to voice the cries of the voiceless, to decry the unjust order in the world, to point out the road to perdition often chosen by the masses, to live and die for the Reign, are marks that can set us apart as Lord’s flock. Belonging to the Lord, never to stray away from the Lord, never to let ourselves be stolen by the evil one or the enticing forces of the world, is another fundamental requirement to be the Lord’s flock!
Thus attached and united to the Lord, the flock is CHERISHED by the Shepherd, and the Shepherd holds back nothing from this flock. The second reading reveals to us the heart of the Shepherd who wishes to make of the flock, a marvellous and splendid people, who have no hunger or thirst, who have no tears to shed, who are nourished by the springs of living water and who will never fear anything, not even persecution or death. That is the strength that the Lord wishes to give, if only we are ready to receive it, and live in the presence of the Lord, in th tents of the living God, day and night, for all eternity. We are loved, we are affirmed, we are strengthened, we are empowered, we are cherished by the Shepherd who dares to give everything for us and for our eternal happiness.
We are the Lord’s flock as long as we understand this call we have received to be the flock, to be the flock that listens, follows and belongs to the Lord. Once we make that choice, however weak and failing we could be, the Lord cherishes us and continually cleanses us and rejuvenates us in his blood and in his Spirit! May we grow in our commitment to the Lord in order that we may dare to say: we are God’s people, the sheep of the Lord’s flock!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005 and has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (specialisation in Catechetics). He has a Doctorate in Theology with specialisation in Catechetics and youth ministry at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the young towards a World of Peace and dialogue is the passion that fires him.