HOMILY FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B (GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY)
HOMILY THEME: CHRIST, THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE CALL TO FOLLOW HIM FAITHFULLY
BY: Fr Cyril Unachukwu CCE
God is always very attentive to all His creatures. He guides them through the path of life and He constantly gives them recognisable indications on how to make progress in life and the shortest way to reach the proper place of nutritious pastures. God expects us, as His beloved creatures, to freely, stably and constantly subscribe as members of His sheepfold so as to enjoy the full-package of His Pastoral Care, through Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd, and by the power of the Holy Spirit who is the _Unitive Principle_ of the sheepfold. May we be docile members of the Sheepfold of Christ; Amen.
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The Fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally also known as the Good Shepherd Sunday. This title is inspired by the Gospel Reading in the three years of the Liturgical Cycle that is taken from the tenth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John in which Jesus Christ is identified emphatically as the Good Shepherd – “I am the Good Shepherd.” Also, this Sunday is called Vocation Sunday, inspired by the intimate link between the Mission/Ministry of Christ and the Vocation to the Priesthood and the Religious Life. Hence, today, the Universal Church, in a very special way, prays to the Lord of all Vocations for sincere and holy vocations to the Priesthood and to the Religious Life. Those called to these holy vocations participate, in a special way, in the Ministry of Christ and in the tending of the Sheepfold of Christ. It must always be noted that Christ is the one, archetypical, prototypical and irreplaceable Shepherd of the Sheepfold. However, He achieves His goal as the Good Shepherd through the instrumentality of human shepherds; called, formed, chosen and commissioned by Him in the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit, to lead the sheep, together with themselves, to the Throne of our Father in Heaven. In the exercise of their ministry, it is Christ who lives and leads and performs His prerogative function as Shepherd. It is essential of the ministry of a Shepherd to lay down his or her life for the flock entrusted to his or her care; “I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd is one who lays down His life for His sheep” (John 10:11-18). Our Lord Jesus Christ did not only say this about Himself, but He also put these words into action through His Passion, Death and Resurrection to set us free from all the bondages we carelessly placed ourselves. He died to set us free; and that is a distinguishing mark of a true shepherd.
Being called into the Priesthood or the Religious Life is a special invitation to make visible, in the midst of God’s people, this presence of Christ the Good Shepherd. It is not the Vocation to usurp the place of Christ the Good Shepherd. Rather, it is the Vocation to make Christ known and to make His voice heard in the community of God’s sons and daughters. Saint Peter was very much conscious of this fact about those called to share in the Ministry of Christ. In the First Reading (Acts 4:8-12), speaking to the Sanhedrin, Peter declared “I would indeed be glad to tell the whole people of Israel, that it was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you crucified, whom God raised from the dead… that this man is able to stand up perfectly healthy.” No human shepherd is permitted to blur the visibility of the Good Shepherd. The duty of every shepherd is to make most evident the presence of the Good Shepherd, to help the flock to be attentive to the voice of the Good Shepherd and to help the flock locate the place of the best of green pastures prepared and nurtured by the Good Shepherd for the nourishment of the entire flock. It is the responsibility of all shepherds to help the flock to recognise their true identity; “think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children” (I John 3:1-2). Our true identity is that we are God’s children. It behoves around every shepherd to help the flock to build-up their future; “what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is that when it is revealed we shall be like Him.” Any shepherd, whose main purpose is not to help make most evident and deep the similitude of the flock to the Good Shepherd is a hired man, who “since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep.” Achieving this goal is never possible without God’s assistance and grace. Hence, driven by the Spirit “let us awaken from sleep, let us leave indifference behind, let us open the doors of the prison in which we so often enclose ourselves, so that each of us can discover his or her proper vocation in the Church and in the world, and become a pilgrim of hope and a builder of peace! Let us be passionate about life, and commit ourselves to caring lovingly for those around us, in every place where we live” (Pope Francis, Message for the 2024 World Day of Prayer for Vocations). Only docility to God and the spirit of sacrifice can spark the real and gracious contents of one’s dreams, of one’s service to God in others, and of fidelity to the commitments of one’s vocation. The Spirit of God is always gracious in guiding us through this path.
May God be the strength of those He has called into the Ministry as instruments of the Good Shepherd. Through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, may they become faithful and fruitful ministers in the exercise of their respective callings; Amen.
Happy Sunday
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