JESUS ALONE, MODEL OF GOOD SHEPHERD AND GIVER OF HOPE.

April 21, 2024.
Fourth Sunday of Easter – B.

Good Shepherd Sunday – Vocation Sunday.

Readings: Acts 4:8-12; Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29; 1Jn 3:1-2; Jn 10:11-18.

A German proverb says: “Straying shepherd, straying sheep.” A Russian proverb adds: “The wolf can always be hired very cheaply as a shepherd.”

"There is no salvation through anyone else..." (Acts 4:12) At Easter, what we celebrate is the centrality of Christ. He alone died on the Cross for sinners, and he alone rose again to life on the third day for all. He is the reason of the season and the cause and instrument of human salvation. Besides him, there is no other cause and source of salvation.

There is a famous saying of Cyprian of Carthage (+258), in Patristic and Ecclesiology, "Salus extra ecclesiam non est" ("there is no salvation outside the Church"), from Letter LXXII that raised great discussion among theologians and experts, but that holds a key truth. If we accept the Church as the mystical body of Christ, the Church is thus a sacrament of salvation. Salvation, however, came from no one else but Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died and rose again on the third day. Besides him, no one else has brought about human salvation. He alone is our salvation.

The liturgy, on this 4th Sunday of Easter, emphasizes the centrality and uniqueness of Christ. He alone is the Good Shepherd. We celebrate today the Good Shepherd Sunday, and in Jesus, we are given to contemplate the attributes of the Good Shepherd and the calling for each of us to incarnate him in our families, works, offices, society, communities, parishes, and in the whole world.

In today's Gospel, the Lord Jesus makes a very explicit claim: “I am the good shepherd..." And he gives the content of what it means to be a good shepherd: "A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

As Christians, we become good, and Christ imitators only through our capacity of sacrifice. The example, we have is Jesus. In this Easter season, all our attention and hearts are turned on the mystery of the Cross, the suffering he freely accepted for our salvation. He died on the Cross as a victim of expiation, the sacrificial lamb so that all might have life through him. He is thus true to his words: "A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Every social and political leader, every father and mother of the family, every pastor and church leader should aim at this, sacrifice themselves for those under their care.

Unfortunately, we live in a world filled with hired workers, people who shamelessly and fearlessly sacrifice others for their personal and egoistic interests. People who have no concern for the rights of others but rather trample upon them for their personal ascension. People who steal, violate, kill... People who have nothing to do with humility and selflessness. The worship of the self prevails overall and everything, and sadly, even we, Church leaders are sometimes not immune from the virus of the self. The Lord Jesus, in the Gospel, considers the Good Shepherd as one who lays down his life for his sheep. Are we in or out of this categorization?

The example, as John reminds us in the second reading, is the Lord himself. He gave his life for all. After his example, we Christians should not be afraid to give up our lives. For, through Christ's resurrection, we know now, and that is our faith, that death cannot destroy or overtake life. It is rather in death that we reach the fullness of life, life in Jesus our Good Shepherd, our model. Jesus alone is the good and great shepherd we all need.

May the Spirit of the first Pentecost, the Spirit that filled Peter and his companions, help us and lead us to incarnate Christ in our daily lives, becoming shepherds and servants for each other.

Today is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In his message for this day, Pope Francis emphasizes that we are all “Called to sow seeds of hope and to build peace,” and all called to happiness and to become instruments of happiness for others. So, the Holy Father says: “Our life finds fulfillment when we discover who we are, what our gifts are, where we can make them bear fruit, and what path we can follow in order to become signs and instruments of love, generous acceptance, beauty and peace, wherever we find ourselves.” No one can find genuine happiness if he or she does not truly know themselves and the purpose of their life.

This year particularly, because being a year of preparation for the great Jubilee of 2025, our vocation is to be a pilgrim of hope. And the Holy Father makes it clear: “Our pilgrimage on this earth is far from a pointless journey or aimless wandering; on the contrary, each day, by responding to God’s call, we try to take every step needed to advance towards a new world where people can live in peace, justice, and love. We are pilgrims of hope because we are pressing forward towards a better future, committed at every step to bringing it about. This is, in the end, the goal of every vocation: to become men and women of hope. As individuals and as communities, amid the variety of charisms and ministries, all of us are called to embody and communicate the Gospel message of hope in a world marked by epochal challenges.” Like Jesus, the only Good Shepherd, may each of us be a sower of hope and peace wherever we live.