Acts 13:14.43-52
Psalm 99
Revelation 7:9.14-17
John 10:27-30
Reflections
The
fourth
Sunday of Easter is traditionally called Good
Shepherd Sunday, due to the passage of the Gospel,
always taken from chapter ten 
of
John and in which Jesus
speaks of himself as the true shepherd of the people. For the
evangelist Luke,
Jesus is the good shepherd who goes after the
lost sheep, takes it
on his shoulders and rejoices with his friends (Lk 15:4-7); he is a
shepherd
with a merciful heart. This image full of tenderness is completed by
that of
John which presents a shepherd who is caring and forceful in defending
the sheep from bandits and wild animals, determined to fight
till death
for the flock.
Since the
III Century, the Good Shepherd is the
first symbol that was used by the Christians in the catacombs to
represent
Jesus Christ, many centuries before the crucifix. The reason for such
ancient symbol
lies in the biblical richness of the image of the shepherd
(see Exodus, Ezekiel, Psalms…) with which Jesus identified
himself and which John (chapter 10) has reread in a messianic context.
The
expressions that show life and relationship between himself and the
sheep are,
indeed, abundant: to go in and out, to know, to call and to listen, to
open, to
lead, to walk and to follow, to loose and steal, to give life… Till the
full
identification of Jesus with the good shepherd
who lays down his life for
the sheep (v. 11.14). The Greek text uses a synonym: the beautiful shepherd (v. 11.14), namely the
one who is good and perfect, the one who unites in himself aesthetic
and ethic
perfection. He is the shepherd par excellence!
Jesus
stubbornly assures us that his initiative to save the sheep will be
successful:
“They will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me… and
no one
can steal them from the Father” (v. 28-29). This certainty is not based
on the
goodness and fidelity of the sheep but on the gratuitous love of
Christ, who is
stronger than any human frailty. He does not
abandon any of his sheep,
even though these have gone astray or do not know him: all must enter
through
the door, which is Christ himself (v. 7), because he is the only door,
the only
saviour. He offers his life for all: he
has other sheep to draw to himself, till there will be just one flock
and one
shepherd (v. 16). The mission of the Church moves along these
parameters of
universality: life offered to all, life in abundance, prospective of a
single
flock… Even though the flock is large, no one
is in addition, no one is lost in anonymity,
and rather the relationships are personal: the shepherd knows his own
sheep, he calls them one by one, by name (v. 3)
and these listen to his voice and follow him (v. 27).
For John
the good news of Easter is twofold: Christ is the Good Shepherd by the Pierced
Heart, from whom springs life for “a huge and varied crowd”
impossible
to count (II Reading); and he is also
the slaughtered
Lamb, in whose blood all find purification and consolation in
the great
persecution (v. 14). In his vision, John, the oracle of Patmos (Rev.
1,9),
arrives at identifying the Lamb with the
Shepherd, who leads to “the
springs of living waters” (v. 17). Life without hunger, thirst or tears
(v.
16-17) one day will be a reality; but at present it remains a promise
for the
future, a sure word that will be brought to completion. Lamb and Shepherd are two
mutually related symbols which complete each other. Jesus is the Good
Shepherd
because he is the Lamb that was slain for the life of the people; he is
the good
Shepherd because he is first of all the meek Lamb and the willing
servant. This
identification has immeasurable weight even in our present time: we
will be as good as shepherds in as much as we are first of all meek
lambs and servants
who are willing to give life
to the flock.
A Christian
has a huge task to carry through: to announce the Gospel of Jesus in
the world
in spite of oppositions and hostilities of all kinds, but with the same
awareness
that has always sustained Paul in his mission (I Reading):
to feel called to be light to the peoples to
the ends of the earth (v. 47). In the wake of Paul, one can
understand
the appeal of the current World Day of Prayer for Vocations. (*) Vocation
to a particular consecration (priesthood, consecrated life, missionary
life,
laypersons’ services…) is solidly strengthened by the personal experience of feeling
loved and called by Someone. For any type of vocation it is
vital to believe
as true those words of Jesus: “I know them and they follow me” (v. 27).
To know
that we are in God’s heart makes one feel alive and great, offers us
certainty,
makes
one feel as son and brother, makes of one an apostle. It opens
one’s
heart to the whole world.
The Pope’s
words
(*) “Every
priest, every consecrated person, faithful to his or her vocation,
radiates the
joy of serving Christ and draws all Christians to respond to the
universal call
to holiness. Consequently, in order to foster vocations to the
ministerial
priesthood and the consecrated life, and to be more effective in
promoting the
discernment of vocations, we cannot do without the example of those who
have
already said ‘yes’ to God and to his
plan for the life of each individual. Personal
witness, in the form of concrete existential choices, will
encourage young people for their part to make demanding
decisions affecting their future”.
Benedict XVI
Message for the 47th World Day
of Prayer for Vocations, 25.04.2010
In the
footsteps of the Missionaries
-25/4:
IV Sunday
of Easter – 47th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, with the
theme:
“Witness fosters vocations”.
-
25/4: St.
Marc, evangelist, disciple of Paul and of Peter, believed to be the
founder of
the Church in Alexandria of Egypt.
-
25/4: St.
Peter of Betancur (1626-1667), Franciscan tertiary brother, a Spanish
missionary in Guatemala, called the “man who was charity” for his love
for the
orphans, beggars and the sick.
-
27/4: St.
Peter Ermengol (+1304), a Spaniard, converted from a highway robber to
a
religious of the Order of the Mercedes, who spent his life to the
ransom of
slaves in Africa.
-
28/4: St.
Luis Maria Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), zealous apostle in the
popular
missions in France, founder of the Daughters of Wisdom and of the
Company of
Mary (Monfortani).
-
28/4: St.
Peter Chanel (1803-1841), a Frenchman, priest of the Marist society,
missionary
in the isle of Futuna, proto-martyr and patron of Oceania.
-
29/4: St.
Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), Dominican tertiary laywoman, mystic and
doctor
of the Church, patroness of Italy and of Europe.
-
30/4: Bl.
Mary of the Incarnation Guyart Martin (1599-1672), first missionary
woman of
modern times (from France to Canada), mystic, foundress – with some
Jesuits –
of the Church in Canada.
-
30/4 St.
Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842), priest from Turin, trusting in
Divine
providence founded works and Institutes to assist the most needy and
neglected
people.
-
1/5: St
Joseph the Worker who taught Jesus to work. – World Day
for the Workers.
