Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2023

Lived Victory!

When He has driven out all His own, He walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow Him, because they recognize His voice.

Thank you for joining today as we continue in our Easter joy. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Lost, wandering, confused, despairing, angry, tired.

Considering our Good Shepherd, Jesus, has caused me to reflect on all those times in my life where I was lost and wandering. In different measure we all live through being lost, wandering, confusion, despair, anger, and tiredness.

One night of my life jumps right out at me. I was literally awake all night, that kind of awake where you know sleep will not come, that kind of awake where you cannot even close your eyes. My eyes were wide open, starring at the ceiling.

A lot had gone on – broken relationships, financial difficulties, job worries, my diabetes not in good control at all, a doctor who could only lecture – no help there. It all rushed through my mind, and it did not seem solutions were forthcoming. I couldn’t even despair.

As I mentioned, people go through times like that and if they have even an inkling of hope to overcome it, they start to actively seek a solution.

Now you might ask: ‘Where was your faith?’ On that, there was little of that left. I was away from the Church. I never rejected Jesus – but as I’ve told many people, that was a constant temptation.

So, what happened, how did I overcome? I’ll start with the fact that there was no miracle or amazing revelation. One day, thinking about my faith, I realized I never took it seriously. I never even memorized some of the most basic prayers beyond the Our Faith and Hail Mary.

I will ask you to consider this – that for the first time in my life I really heard the Good Shepherd’s voice and the message – Get serious! That’s what I did, I got serious.

Did my problems go away magically? No. Did I have to work hard? Yes. As I studied my faith, as I memorized those prayers, as I did the work necessary to overcome my troubles, as I went to church each week my life normalized. My week started right, and it made a huge difference to not just have God as an active part of my life, but to truly listen to His voice, to work at walking His path. To seat Him on the throne as God in my life.

Brothers and Sisters, is all solved? Of course not. What has changed is that I am no longer lost, wandering, confused, or despairing. Angry and tired – sometimes – must work more at that, but I know with absolute assurance that when I was at my lowest the Good Shepherd sought me out. He seeks all of us, calls to us, and we innately know His voice.

Wherever we are on the journey of life, wherever we came from, the Shepherd calls to us. Let us listen, not just to listen, but actively engage and follow for a real overcoming.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2022

Hearing and moving.

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.”

Good morning, Church! I am so thankful you have chosen to worship with us this Sunday as we declare: Christ is risen! He is truly risen! Alleluia!

Today we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday as the fourth Sunday of Easter is always known. We encounter the shortest Gospel concerning the Good Shepherd, only four verses. In other years it is either eight or ten verses. Yet in these four verses we clearly see the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd – the Shepherd Who cares for and protects us, the Good Shepherd Who lives up to His promises and speaks to us.

Last week we heard about Jesus’ feeding of His Apostles by the seaside. He also spoke a command to them, and to us, that we are to feed and tend His flock.

Now, we should take a moment to check in. Did we hear what Jesus asked of us concerning tending and feeding? This is important.

Today’s gospel contains a great promise to all followers of the Christ. Jesus says: “My sheep hear my voice!” He does not say we could hear his voice, or we should hear his voice, or we might hear his voice. Rather, Jesus is exceptionally clear that we do hear His voice.

As such, we should always be alert, awake, and ready to act on what God is speaking to us. It may sound strong… but if we are not hearing anything, if all we hear is silence, or if we ignore what we hear, then we are not walking in the Lord’s will. We have placed ourselves outside the sheepfold.

Think of it this way. When our moms called out to us, or call out to us, did or do we hear them? I can tell you from personal experience, when my mom wanted her will done, I could hear her, even down the block. Jimmy, Jimmy… I wanted to bury my head in the dirt, but the call and the request for a response were real. I responded.

That is what the Good Shepherd is saying. We cannot help but hear and if we are within the sheepfold we must then act.

We easily know God’s call to us because His voice is clear, right here in Holy Scripture, in Holy Tradition, in the Holy Spirit guided teaching of the Church. We indeed know God’s will and desire for us.

On top of that, we have the voice of the Holy Spirit we have each received. He leads us to the places He wishes and asks us to carry out the work He needs done: witnessing, serving, evangelizing, and more.

When the Good Shepherd’s voice is stirred in us His words are words of life. Jimmy must get up, get going and do. We all must so we may live in His sheepfold forever.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2021

The Lord is my…

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, and I will lay down my life for the sheep.”

Today is a good day to recall the words of our esteemed English teachers. Recall when they used to ask us to compare and contrast works by different authors, poems by different poets.

Jesus breaks right into a compare and contrast with His listeners today. Compare the good shepherd and the hired worker. He cites their motivations, one of concern, love, and sacrifice versus a pecuniary motivation – getting paid and not really caring. He cites their reactions – defense of the flock or running away.

Beyond that immediate compare and contrast, Jesus speaks of those listening as belonging to a fold and another group of people who do not currently belong to that fold. While they were of different folds at that time, Jesus tells His listeners that they will all be brought into one fold, one flock, with one Shepherd.

What Jesus was trying to impress upon those listening is that there is an ideal – a way of being that is unique to followship with Him. 

In this new reality – in the Kingdom and the gospel way of life – we need not worry about who might care for us. We have a Chief Shepherd Who is I AM – God Himself among us – watching over, guiding, guarding, and caring for us. We need not worry about what tribe, nation, people, or party we belong to for that is all worldly death. Instead, we belong to the one fold, the one flock of Jesus.

Peter, on trial with the other disciples, clearly tells the court of the old Israel, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” There is no other fold, or flock, or Shepherd. There is one, only one, for salvation and it is the flock of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. 

St. John expounds: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Children of One Father, brothers and sisters of the One Lord, no longer separate and apart from God and each other. One flock.

Brothers and sisters, we have a new reality in Christ Jesus. Our esteemed English teachers called us rightly to compare and contrast, and so we should. What was I before Jesus (apart, alone, afraid, without hope beyond today) and what am I now (an heir to eternal life and a member of the eternal family of God)? Who was God to me before Jesus (judge, accuser, punisher) and Who is He now (Good Shepherd)?

As we go forth from this blessed day, let us continually reflect on who the Lord is in our lives. Let us give thanks that we are in Him, the Good Shepherd, the cornerstone, where we together lack nothing. 

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2020

One way.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep… Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”

It is pretty easy to picture Jesus as the Good Shepherd. We have all seen many beautiful and heart moving images of the Good Shepherd, Jesus cradling us as the lamb in His arms. This Good Shepherd Sunday we are asked to consider Jesus as the gate to the sheepfold.

Jesus as the gate to the sheepfold seems a little odd to us. If we come at it from the perspective of modern farming and ranching, we might see Jesus as a wooden gate or a metal fence gate. That seems – well – weird. We have to take a step back to Jesus’ time to recognize what He was really talking about.

In Jesus’ time, the gate to the sheepfold was a man. There would be a big stone pen with a man who stayed at its entrance guarding the sheep. The shepherds would lead their flocks in, and one would ensure their safety. When the time came the shepherds would return, the gate-man would allow them entry. They would call their sheep by name and they would follow the shepherds out to pasture. The gate-man would fend off robbers and carnivorous animals, protecting the sheep.

There are many allusions to shepherds and some even like to focus on those who are bad or indifferent shepherds. Let’s not do that. Our only focus should be on the Good Shepherd. Jesus is called that for a reason.

The reason He is called the Good Shepherd is because He is indeed Good. His shepherding is awesome. His voice is trustworthy. His words are music to us. He draws us to Himself. He leads us. He protects us. He has saved us. He suffered for us, fending off the power of sin and death to rob from us and to destroy us. He took up our defense at the cost of His flesh and blood; at the cost of His life. Finally, as the gate-man to heaven, He opened the door to everlasting life in the joy of the Kingdom – the promise made to each of us His faithful.

The people Peter and the eleven were speaking to were cut to the heart by the truth of Who Jesus is. They asked: “What are we to do, my brothers?” The answer is not fancy or complex, it is simple. Be baptized, enter in through Jesus, the gate-man. Enter through His death and burial so to rise to new life, life to the full, and live like you got it. “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Live like you got it.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday and Mother’s Day 2019

About the
when.

“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

It is often said that it is all about the timing. It is about being there when our ship comes in. Well. today the ship has really come in. Three special celebrations all in one day. We, of course, celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday. We also honor our Blessed Mother, Mary, in a special way today crowning her with our admiration and love. Finally, we celebrate Mother’s Day. While these celebrations may seem somewhat disparate, there is a central theme that runs throughout. It is the theme of motherhood, of deep caring. About mom getting us to when.

As we consider the concept of motherhood, let us look at it from the angle of our mom’s, our Blessed Mother, and what the Good Shepherd left us, our Holy Mother, the Church.

Each of the ‘mom’s’ in our lives exist in time. Each of them has related to us throughout our lives in differing ways. Each of them has left an impact and a past. Each offers potential for the future. Each has been the source of tears and joys leading us to when.

We start with our mom’s. As we reflect on them we consider their experiences of us, and what they prepared for us. As we reflect on such things, we consider those many times mom may wondered about us. We also, and much more frequently, reflect on the happy moments. Those times mom was assured of our love, when she knew her counsel made a difference, when she had assurance of our ok’ness. For her, it is/was about our when, the opportunity of the moment – for us to have everything that really matters.

The same with our Blessed Mother. She holds out her hands to us. She watches over and intercedes for us. She certainly has wondered about us when we were distant from her Son. But there she is, always ready to help us come back. For her, it is about our when, the opportunity of the moment – for us to have everything that really matters.

Our Holy Mother, the Church, works diligently to raise us to the realization of Jesus’ intervention as Good Shepherd. We find Him holding the gate open, leading us, knowing us. For the Shepherd and His Holy Church it is about our when, the opportunity to have everything that really matters.

Reflection for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018

Great green
today.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage.

As you know, over the past two weeks we have been focusing on history. There was our reflection on historical errors that keep repeating themselves because of the world’s sinful lather, rinse, repeat lifestyle. We reflected on manifest destiny, not as a political or social call, but as a call from God – by which we overcome all obstacles in furtherance of our carrying out God’s kingdom plan.

Today we hear the most well known Psalm of all – The Lord is my Shepherd. Psalm 23.

The 23rd Psalm is very well known chiefly for one reason – we hear it as we reflect on the history of a person who has died. It is said at almost every funeral home service and funeral or Requiem Holy Mass. It is, of course, comforting – being led by peaceful waters, protected, free from fear, anointed, having plenty – all is green and beautiful – but is it right?

Reading the words of Psalm 23 over and over, we are struck by the fact that it is not a mere reflection of some past benefit from God. It is not a historical re-telling of what God has done, but an indication of what God has done, is doing, and will be doing in our lives. For those who love grammar, the verb tense in the 23rd Psalm is the “habitual present.” God’s action is dynamic, regular, and repeated.

God’s Son, Jesus, is in the great right now. He is not just the past, a historical reality – the Lord was our shepherd, nor is He something we are just waiting on, off in the future – the Lord will be our shepherd. No, He is in our now.

It is time for us to take the 23rd Psalm as the prayer, poetry, and hymn of our everyday lives. All of the promises of God and the reflections of David in singing out this great hymn are about our now. Jesus is shepherding us. He is protecting us – have no fear in witnessing faith and prayer daily and publicly. He is gifting us with refreshment – that reserved for His faithful. He is feeding us, giving us rest, and calling us to follow His right path. Our God is amazing and now.

Faithful, it is about today. Let not the Psalm be a hopeful reflection only after death, but our reality today.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2018

Who carries
who?

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

The image of the Good Shepherd is one of the earliest Christian images and one of the most popular even to this day.

Early Christian images were often symbolic. This was due to the need to be discreet in a world where Christians were often viewed with suspicion at best and persecuted, even to death, at worst. The image summoned up by the words of Jesus, “I am the good shepherd.”

The image of the Good Shepherd often depicts Jesus carrying the lost sheep on His shoulders, bringing the lost back. The image is evocative of the power and strength of Jesus as well as of His care and concern for each of the sheep. We see Him going off among the brambles and thorns, the rocks and cliffs, among the wolves and other dangers, letting nothing stop Him from His mission of care, His rescue.

As Christians, we have the same call, but it can be muffled by our dual personality.

The call is to be imitators of the Good Shepherd. W e are to live up to our responsibility to search for the lost. How many do we know that have lost their relationship or have a broken relationship with Jesus – we need to seek them out and bring them back. Jesus gives us the grace to have the same strength He has, so we can go among the brambles, thorns, rocks, cliffs, wolves and other dangers of this world to bring them back. As He carried us back or into the fold, we are to carry others back or into the fold.

Our dual personality is such, that while we are His sheep, we too go astray at times. Our call can be muffled by the sinful attraction of the world. It is in those moments that we may have confidence that Jesus will not leave us alone and abandoned in the wild. Jesus will marshal all His resources, graces, and people to bring us back. As we carry others back, Jesus carries us.

There are great temptations and sadness, seemingly impossible obstacles in our journey with Jesus’ flock. Yet we have great power in Jesus and the strong shoulders of a great God. It is time to have confidence; it is time to work out our shoulders in scripture, prayer, and the grace of sacramental encounter. The question is not who carries who, but the confidence that that Jesus carries us and we are strong to carry each other.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2017

The giving
door.

“I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

This one used to confuse me. I get Jesus being the Good shepherd. I can envision Him leading us, providing for us, protecting us, and rescuing us when we get lost. I also get Jesus being the perfect sacrificial lamb – the Lamb of God who by His sacrificial death took away our sins and freed us. But, what did Jesus mean when He said ‘I AM the door?’

“I AM the door” is the third of seven “I AM” declarations of Jesus recorded only in John’s Gospel. These “I AM” proclamations point to Jesus’ Divinity for He was calling Himself by the same name as God did when Moses asked God His Name. In this statement, Jesus further clarifies that He is the exclusive way to salvation by saying that He is ‘the door,’ not ‘a door.’

As we know, sheep are completely helpless animals. Sheep graze and wander while doing so. They never look up. They get lost. Further, sheep have no homing instinct. They cannot find their way home, even if it is right in front of them. By nature, sheep are followers and they will follow each other right off a cliff. As such, sheep are totally dependent on their shepherd. Shepherds are the providers, guides, protectors, and constant companions of sheep. The relationship between the flock and shepherd was so close that a shepherd easily knows his own sheep, even if his flock gets mingled with others. This bond is so close, that each sheep recognizes its shepherds’ voice and will follow it.

At nightfall, or when the shepherd had to go do business, he would lead his sheep into the protection of a sheepfold.

There were two kinds of sheepfolds. One was a public pen found in the cities and villages. It held several flocks of sheep. There was a doorkeeper, whose duty it was to guard the door to the sheep pen and to only admit known shepherds who would call out their flocks. This is a warning to pastors – for the Lord will only allow those He recognizes.

The second kind of sheep pen was in the countryside and was built by shepherds. It was a rough rock wall with a small open space to enter. There was no gate – rather – the shepherd would protect the sheep by lying across the opening. He literally became the door or gate to the sheep.

When Jesus says, “I am the gate,” He not only reiterating His constant care and His sacrificial love, but His total dedication to complete care for us, His daily provision, His strength giving us full and abundant life.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2016

Who is the
shepherd?

“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.” The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and glorified the word of the Lord. All who were destined for eternal life came to believe, and the word of the Lord continued to spread through the whole region.

In the Old Testament Israel is at the center of the stage. Everything we read about is focused on Israel. There is a similar focus in the New Testament. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, “Salvation is from the Jews.” As he sent out the seventy-two to spread the Gospel He told them “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Yet there are examples throughout both the Old and New Testament of salvation and glory coming to those who were outside Israel. In God’s kingdom all found welcome. Those examples were given through strangers and outsiders who encountered God’s people – Israel. As such, we see Israel as being key to God’s salvific work. Israel, the nation that came from the loins of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was to be the light to the world. It was meant to show the way toward God.

John saw the great multitude that is to surround God’s throne. People from every nation, race, people, and tongue will be with God forever. How does that come about?

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” That is what He meant, that we have gifts and joy to share. Following Him does not mean that we remain mere sheep. As Israel was to step up and act as light and shepherd to the world – and fell short in doing so at Antioch – so we now have the chance and opportunity. Our destiny is laid out for us. Once we hear His voice, and allow it to touch us and change us, we follow in being His shepherds.

Jesus, of course, is our Chief Shepherd. He is the one we all follow. What we have to resolve to do is to be practical shepherds, spiritual leaders, and Christ following examples every day. We need to lead those who are lost and in need. We need to lead people to God, not by taking control from God, but by sharing His joy, the promise of eternal life.

In the Old Testament Israel was at the center of the stage. Someone still has to point people to God, has to offer them the gifts that we have been given. As New Testament people, people of the Gospel, let us be the ones to shepherd and spread His gifts around.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2015

good_shepherd-icon-thumb

Asking for
good shepherds

A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.

We pause this Sunday to reflect on Jesus in His role as the Good Shepherd. We can easily identify with what a good shepherd does by looking at Jesus’ words in their cultural context.

Middle eastern cultures understood what good shepherding was all about. It was about feeding the lambs, bringing them to good pasture lands and water, grooming and clipping them, delivering new lambs, leading them and teaching them to stay together, going off after the wandering lost ones, and protecting the sheep in the field and in the fold.

To feed the sheep means to take care of them from the beginning of life. Good shepherds begin the lambs’ introduction to the ways of God, first with the milk of instruction and teaching in God’s way. Then the good shepherds move them to solid food – food for lives lived in righteousness so that the lambs can be fully equipped, able to stand in the day of testing.

Grooming the lambs means good shepherds honestly correct what is wrong and failing in them. Good shepherds must teach lambs discipline and encourage and rebuke them so that they stay true to the Lord and fit for His service.

Delivering the sheep means that good shepherds preach the Gospel so that many are brought to new life – born again and regenerated. Good shepherds must bring many to God’s light so that no darkness can overcome their lives.

The other side of the equation is that good shepherds lead flocks, not just individual sheep. We run into problems when we see Jesus as solely a personal Good Shepherd. True, He is Good Shepherd to us as individuals but not only. Jesus wanted to make sure that we receive all the benefits of being part of His flock, that we be fed, pastured, groomed and trained, that we stay together, that the lost among us be led back, and that we are protected.

To do all this Jesus gave us shepherds who were loyal to His way. We are blessed to have His shepherds among us to this day, who lead us in the pristine Christian faith.

Our bishops and priests maintain the flock and carry out Jesus’ work of shepherding. They further call us to be good shepherds to one another. They ask us to take up the same work of feeding, grooming, and delivering each other. Let us honor the work of our good shepherds and take their and our responsibility seriously.