St. John is the evangelist who provides us with the seven affirmations or titles Our Lord applies to himself. He says: I am bread, the way, the truth, the life, the vine, the door, and the title we hear always on the 4th Sunday of Easter, “I am the good shepherd.” Our Lord does not say, “I am a shepherd”, nor even “a good shepherd.” He says, “I am THE good shepherd.” He is not a wavering mercenary who would abandon the flock, fleeing at the first sign of danger. He is the ever faithful, patient, and vigilant shepherd who protects, guides, and nurtures the flock to the point of laying down his life for the sheep. We can understand why this is much beloved image of Our Lord.
If Jesus would have us know him as a shepherd, it stands to reason that we are his sheep. The Church is his flock.
Any shepherd would tell us that sheep are un- cooperative. They are slow and stubborn, they wander off, become lost and are vulnerable to attack. This is why the shepherd carries a rod and staff: He would use the rod to fight off wild animals and prod them to move along when they became stubborn. The curved end of the staff would be looped around the neck of the sheep to retrieve the sheep when it wandered off.
Part of a sheep’s problem is that they have poor vision and so they have to rely on their hearing. This is why our Lord does not say, “My sheep “see” me and follow me” but rather, “My sheep “hear” my voice and they follow me.”
The Lord has given us this apt image of our relationship with him. We too, can be short-sighted, holding on stubbornly to our ways, slow to change. At those times, we need a bit of prodding. We are also inclined to wander off into danger and at those times we need to be reined in!
Like good sheep, we need to rely more on our hearing that on our sight. “Faith comes by hearing”, says St. Paul. So there is the need to listen, to be attuned to the voice of the Good Shepherd. St. James reminds us that we should be “quick to listen and slow to speak.”[Jas.1:19]But for most of us, it is just the opposite. We would rather be heard than listen.
Listening is an essential key to keeping us on the right path. There are many voices vying for our attention. Not all of them good, right, or true. In our current environment we might even hear voices of despair.
With the psalmist however, we can repeat, “The Lord is my shepherd.” His voice has a different message. He came to open my ears to a different voice that says: “I am your God. I have molded you with my own hands and I love what I have made. I love you with a love that has no limits. Do not run away from me. You are my child…I am your God—the God of mercy and compassion, the God of pardon and love, of tenderness and care. Please do not say that I have given up on you, that there is no way back. Do not reject yourself…This is the voice Jesus wants us to hear. It is the voice that calls us always to return to the one who has created us in love and wants to re-create us in mercy.[H. Nouwen The Road to Daybreak, 157-58]
Today let us not forget to pray for those who have been appointed shepherds of the Church—and that many more listen and respond to the divine invitation to become a shepherd after the style of Our Lord, especially within our Diocese of Trenton where the need is very great.
Let us pray: “O God…raise up worthy ministers for your altars and make them ardent yet gentle heralds of your Gospel.” [Collect: Mass for Vocations to Holy Orders]
