April 17, 2016
4th Sunday of
Easter; Good Shepherd Sunday
Acts 13:14.
43-52; Psalm 100; Revelation 7:9. 14b-17; John 10:27-30
I remember
reading this joke which says: “What is the difference between a snatcher and a politician?
The difference between them is this: The snatcher gets the money first and then
runs. While the politician runs first and then gets the money.” How I wish our
political leaders will prove to us that this perception is wrong. We hope that
the coming elections will give us good leaders who will shepherd our country in
the spirit of genuine service. This Fourth Sunday of Easter is called Good
Shepherd Sunday. A shepherd is a leader who
takes care of his flock. Although we are not that familiar with the imagery of
a real shepherd, we can identify those whom we can consider as modern day shepherds.
Who are they? Political leaders are shepherds who should guide the nation to
real progress. Parents are shepherds of their family. We priests are shepherds
of the parish community. But how does one become a good shepherd? As we
celebrate this Good Shepherd Sunday, we look at Jesus as our model. What can we
learn from Him? How did Jesus exercise His office as the Good Shepherd? What
can we do so that the Lord may give us good shepherds?
Let
us reflect on this in three points:
THE
LOVE OF JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD IS INCLUSIVE. In
the first reading, the Jews were filled with jealousy when they saw Paul and
Barnabas having many followers. Their followers included not only the Jews but
even the Gentile converts. Why did they have many followers? Because they were preaching
about the inclusive love of God. They deviated from the exclusive thinking of
the Jews that they are the only nation favored by the Lord. Yes they are the
chosen people but one cannot really limit the boundless love of Jesus the Good
Shepherd. God’s love cannot exclude anyone. Because God’s love reaches out to
all members of His flock. This is one of the characteristics of a good shepherd.
This reminds me of what will happen next year in our diocese. Effective on July 2017, all priests of our
diocese will have new assignments. We will all transfer to another parish and
you will have new shepherds to guide you. This is a reminder for us priests
that our ministry is not exclusive only to one parish. It must be inclusive
like that of the Good Shepherd. As parishioners, your love must also be
inclusive, not only to the priests assigned to this parish but most especially
to those who have not yet felt the inclusive love of Jesus the Good Shepherd.
Reach out to them. Be like Paul and Barnabas to them. Lead and shepherd them to
experience the inclusive love of the Risen Lord. What are we going to do in
order to convince them of this truth?
WE
NEED TO PRAY THAT THE LORD MAY GIVE US GOOD SHEPHERDS. Today
is also the Vocation Sunday. The Church asks us to pray that many young people,
may respond to the call of priesthood and religious life. It is true that there
is a shortage of priests in our Church. Just imagine, the ratio of priests to
parishioners is roughly one to more than 20,000 baptized Catholics. What can we
do to promote vocations? We need to pray and encourage the youth to generously
respond to the call of the Lord to enter the priesthood and religious life.
Aside from prayer we also need to live our faith. Priests and religious do not fall from the
sky. They come from families, schools, communities or workplaces. If we strive
to live our faith in these places, then perhaps people may be inspired to
respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd.
