May 8, 2022

4th Sunday of Easter (C)         

Shepherds, Priests, and Mothers!

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

One of the most beloved images of God in Sacred Scripture is that of a shepherd. In the Old Testament, God’s chosen—Abraham, Moses, and David were shepherds, and God’s people were referred as the Lord’s flock. We find it in the psalm refrain we sang moments ago: “We are his people the sheep of his flock.” Our Lord appropriated this image referring to himself as the “Good Shepherd” and even told St. Peter to feed and tend his sheep. It was natural then that this image should pass into the language of the Church. We speak of our Pope, bishops, and priests as shepherds, and the work of the Church as being “pastoral.” The image appears in today’s Gospel passage wherein Our Lord tells us that his sheep hear his voice.

Sheep recognize and follow only their shepherd’s voice, never a strange voice. Following that voice, sheep are led to green pastures, still waters, and safe havens. Simply put, sheep are docile.

We often think that docility implies being a pushover or lacking strength of character or being led about “by the nose.” Yet the word “docile” comes from the Latin meaning “teachable.” A docile person then is one who realizes there is always something more to learn; that he or she does not have all the answers. A docile person is one who listens.

Today our Lord is asking us, his flock, for this docility, this capacity to listen. He asks us to listen to his voice above the cacophony of voices around us. His voice comes to us in the Scriptures and through the Church. It is the voice that comforts, protects, guides, and challenges us.

Just as a shepherd with his rod pokes and prods the sheep to move along, or, with the crook of his staff, pulls the sheep in to keep it from veering off into danger, God ‘s word pokes and prods, It can make us uncomfortable and challenge us to change.

The recent news about the leak of the draft opinion of the Supreme Court has ignited a fierce debate on abortion and the right to life. Many voices are clamoring for our attention, but let us remember that not everything we hear is good, true, or right. Strange voices will lead us into falsehood, but the shepherd’s voice will never deceive or disappoint. Over the next few days and weeks, the Gospel of Life will continue to be assailed by extreme rhetoric.

We must stand our ground with our ears attuned to Christ’s voice, a voice that proclaims the dignity and sanctity of all human life, from conception until natural death. Nothing will change that reality.

Today we celebrate World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Let us pray that the Lord will raise up good and holy priests, deacons and consecrated religious. May many young people open their ears to the voice of the Shepherd calling them to a life of service that is happy and holy.

Can I not add my good wishes, our thanks and prayers for all our mothers today? We honor the awesome vocation they live out day in and day out. Isn’t it a vocation of shepherding? Let us not fail to pray that the Lord will welcome into the joy of heaven all mothers who have gone before us in faith.

I’d like to conclude with a few words about motherhood from a very old book entitled, Letters to Jack given to me years ago by the late Msgr. Cardelia. It is a collection of letters of a priest to his nephew, Jack. Here is an excerpt:

“Jack, be a man; but to your mother never cease to be a boy. She is following you with the prayers that have no distractions in them because her whole soul is in them. A mother’s prayers for her children are the most fervent in the world. Do not think that she ever leaves you alone. She would be with you in a desert. She always keeps her influence when other influences count for nothing. She has an instinctive sense of what is right for you. I would trust that instinct very far.”

Jack’s uncle got it right about mothers. May the Good Shepherd sustain in every mother a grateful awareness of the awesome vocation to which they have been called.