This Easter season we are celebrating a man named Jesus which means God saves. We also know him as the Christ or the Messiah because of the role he played in our salvation. So, he is Jesus the Christ or Jesus the Messiah. And in the Acts of the Apostles saint Peter says that it’s in that name alone that we are saved. It was in that name that Peter and John cured a crippled man; that’s why they are being examined today (Acts 4: 8-12). Peter says that Jesus is the cornerstone on which is built the community of believers, who walk slowly toward their perfect identity as sons and daughters of God.
As we celebrate this Easter season and listen to the stories of the early Church and their encounters with Jesus, perhaps we can grow in the appreciation of his name and of his person. Who is Jesus in my life, what role does he play? How do we use Jesus’ name? Is his name a throw away name that we use when we are surprised or shocked? Is it a name we use to curse someone? Is it a name we use to bless someone? Do we use it in a respectful way, showing our regard for the person of Jesus Christ? Maybe we don’t even think about the way we use it because it has become so common place in our daily language. As always, there is always room for improvement in our spiritual life. It’s never a done deal. So this Easter season offers us an opportunity to grow and expand in our respect and love for Jesus and his holy name.
St. John reminds us that thanks to Jesus, God the Father has bestowed on us his infinite love that we may be called his children; and although what we shall be has not yet been revealed, yet we shall be like him because we already are God’s children now (1 Jn 3: 1-2); children called to belong to Christ, called to hear his voice.
In today’s Gospel (Jn 10: 11-18), he reveals to us his other name as he declares solemnly: “I am the good shepherd; a good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.” Note that he does not say, I behave like a good shepherd. Rather he says, “I am a good shepherd…”
To acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, our eternal Shepherd, is more than just going to a nearby Christian store and buy one of those Good shepherd’ images that we love to display in our homes. To affirm that Jesus is our Good Shepherd then has concrete moral and ethical implications: it means caring for one another, it means returning to our brothers and sisters, above all the last, the least and little ones the love that God has bestowed on us; it means being compassionate and merciful; it means guiding the stray ones to the right path that leads to abundant life. We are keepers of our brothers and sisters and each one of us will be asked for accounts. This is a reversal of Cain’s “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
During my last stopover at Doha International airport in Qatar, I was sitting close to an Australian couple in the departure lounge. The couple, together with their 2 sons, was coming from London and was heading to Melbourne. As passengers bound for Melbourne were being called to board the aircraft, the elder son of about 17 years of age became very agitated. He was going crazy, opening his carry-on luggage, turning every item inside out and then throwing them away. He simply could no longer find his passport and thus could not board the plane.
His father, a calm and very poised man, was trying to reason and cool down both his son and his wife but to no avail. After a rather heated argument with his wife, he kissed her and the younger son; they later boarded the plane while he remained behind caring for his other son whose passport got lost somewhere inside the airport. It wasn’t an easy decision to take, for the risk of them ending into divorce was looming. But by taking the firm decision to miss his flight because of his son’s carelessness, the man showed to his wife and his two sons how much he loved and cared for them all. He made sure no harm happens to none of them. I saw in that father the example of a good shepherd.
So, as today we celebrate the Sunday called the Good Shepherd Sunday, which is dedicated to the prayer for vocations, we “give thanks to the Lord, who is good,
and whose mercy endures forever” (Ps 118); he chose and sent us shepherds who minister to our spiritual needs in the Church.
In Jesus’ name, let us pray that God may send more laborers to his vineyard. May he rise and choose again from among his people scattered all over the world young men and women ready to hear his voice, to follow him and dedicate their lives to him as priests, religious brothers and sisters sent to announce the joy of the Gospel and the wonders God does in our eyes. May they become shepherds according to the heart of Jesus, shepherds who, to use Pope Francis’ expression, “wear the smell of sheep” and “smile the smile of a father” and whisper “tenderness” and “warmth” everywhere.
