DOCTRINE AND FAITH... 4th Sunday of Easter: Year A

(Acts 2,14.36-41; 1 Peter 2,20-25; John 10,1-10: 

From tradition, the forth Sunday of Easter, is known as the Good Shepherd Sunday. It could even be called the True Shepherd Sunday, as the liturgy dwells on Jesus who has all the qualities of a True Shepherd or Guide of the soul. In the readings, we have allusions to this. In the gospel acclamation we have John 10,14: I am the good shepherd, says the Lord. The text of the second reading concludes thus: You have gone astray like sheep but now you have come back to the shepherd and guardian of your soul. In the first reading Peter, on the day of Pentecost said in  a loud voice: The whole house of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. Jesus is, therefore, the Good shepherd, the True Shepherd because he gave his life for his sheep, conquered death by his resurrection and is constituted by God the Father, Lord and Saviour. 

            In the gospel we have indications that present Jesus as the good and true shepherd. Jesus is presented as the One, who enters the sheepfold through the door and not one who jumps over fences, just as thieves do and brigands whose aim is to rub, kill and destroy. Jesus is the true shepherd who looks after the soul and leads the sheep out to graze, and goes ahead of them indicating the correct path and way, removing any dangers on the way. He is the true shepherd that has concern and solicitude for souls. In the gospel, Jesus is also presented as the gate: I am the gate of the sheepfold...Anyone who enters through me will be safe; he will go freely in and out and he will be sure to find pasture. Bringing this image of Jesus as door to concrete terms, we can say that Jesus is the gate through which the souls can freely go in and out, have ultimate freedom, feel at home and find refuge and security. It is also though Jesus the true shepherd that the soul finds truth, love, grace and life. Jesus himself so affirms: I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full. According to John the Evangelist, the life meant here is the divine life, which already begins here  on earth, a life that is initiated at our Baptism. Jesus says of himself: I am the gate, through which people can go in or out. The people who make use of this gate are not only  those who want to live authentic life of a disciple and attain salvation but also those who would like to be true and legitimate guides to souls that are in search of salvation. Jesus is a gate through which they have to pass. True and good pastors of souls are called by Jesus (You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you), are sent out by him (Just as the Father had sent me, so do I send you), and are to be  carriers of his Message of Good-news (Go and preach to the whole world). The main characteristic of true and legitimate pastors is: being ready to give one’s life for the souls, just as Jesus, the good and true shepherd did. 

            On this Sunday, the Church uses this opportunity to invite us to celebrate and reflect  on:  The world day of Prayers for Vocation. It is the day we pray for the vocation to the priesthood and religious life of consecrated men and women. Priests and Religious men and women, have as it were, the duty to continue Jesus ’ mission as the good and true shepherds and secure guide of the souls of people. The priests have this mission in virtue of their sacred ordination, by which they participate in Christ’s priesthood and rendered worthy to act in his name, (in persona Christi). By virtue of their religious profession (their state of consecrated life), the men and women Religious are obligated, through their example, to follow the Gospel radically, be witnesses to the life of Christ and guides that lead souls to God. Priests and men and women Religious are, therefore, necessary and indispensable to the Church, the people of God and the world. The present world, with lots of upheavals, disasters and man-made-difficulties needs now,more than any other time, the authentic witness of men and women of good will and especially, priests,men and women Religious of consecrated life, whose exemplarily lives serve as the sign of the future life with God in heaven. 

            The laity by their Baptism participate in the mission of Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest and the good and true Shepherd. Parents fulfill their roles as shepherds, when they lead their children to green pastures, that is to say, when they take time, right at the inception of the child in the womb, to train their children, to be good human beings, respectful to their fellow human beings. It is only when they are brought up well that children can become good Christians who show reverence to God. The parents, as good and true shepherds to their families, should be able to nurture in their children vocations to the  Priesthood and Religious life as Rev. Sisters and Rev. Brothers. For, it is from the families that priests and men and women Religious come from; they do not fall down from heaven. Note the expression: like father, like son, like mother, like daughter; should we not also say: like the families like the candidates to the priesthood, religious life as well as married life. May we,therefore, ask the Risen Lord, the good and true shepherd to bestow on all of us the grace of good discipleship that will enable us discharge, in our various and different callings in life, the duties of being shepherds that accrue to us as baptized Christians or consecrated men and women religious or ordained priests. 

+John I. Okoye