Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the Fourth Sunday of Easter reckoned from the first Easter Sunday of our Lord’s Resurrection. And on this day, every year, we also celebrate a special occasion, with regards to the passages referred to in this Sunday’s reading, on the Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the Shepherd of all the faithful.

Yes, today is the Good Shepherd Sunday, and which is also known as the Vocation Sunday, due to how related is the vocation to the priesthood to the concept of the ‘good shepherd’ which our Lord, the One and True Good Shepherd is showing those who walk in His path and follow His call to serve the greater purpose and higher calling to benefit the community of the faithful.

Jesus spoke of a good shepherd as those who know the sheep well, as compared to the thieves and the crooks who wanted to steal the sheep and bring these to harm. He is comparing Himself to the persona of the good shepherd in this manner, as He was leading His people like that of a shepherd to God His Father. And He as the Good Shepherd has set the example for us all to follow.

Therefore, there are a few important meanings to what we have heard in the Scriptures today. First of all, is that God is our Shepherd, and just as the true shepherd loves his sheep, thus God also loves each and every one of us. And He knows us all deep in our hearts, all of our secrets and thoughts, just as good shepherds know their sheep by heart.

And He Who loves us all will not want us to be lost to Him, as He will do His best to keep us all together and find us when we are lost. And in this, we should realise that this is why, God was willing to love us, to show us His mercy and to help us, even though we have erred and sinned many times in our lives, and even though we have indeed been very wicked. He is willing to give us another chance, as long as we are willing to change our ways, repent for our sins and return to Him in faith.

In another parable mentioned by Jesus, about a lost sheep from a flock of a hundred, He mentioned how the shepherd would leave behind all the sheep that are safe and sound, and set out to search for that one lost sheep until it is found and brought to safety. And when the shepherd had found the lost sheep, the joy of the shepherd and all the keepers will be great indeed, even greater than having all those that are already safe and sound in the flock.

That is the proof of how much God loves us, even more than the shepherd loves all of his sheep. In the first place, He did not create us all for nothing. He created everything, every beings and every creatures, all things out of love, and for us all, the greatest among His creations, He showed us all the greatest love of all. We were not intended from the beginning of time, for a life of suffering and difficulty, and neither should death have any power over us.

But it was because of our waywardness, and because of our disobedience and refusal to follow the laws of the Lord, that we have gone astray from our paths, and therefore became lost to sin and darkness. We are like sheep who are attracted to the sights and things outside of the safety of the flock and the guidance of the shepherd, and we desire to gain these things and go to them, without realising that in doing so, we expose ourselves to danger.

But our Lord, our loving Shepherd does not want us to end up in harm and in danger. And that was why He personally intervened by Himself, so that through His works and His actions, we all may be saved and brought back to His care and His embrace. And the Good Shepherd even laid down His own life for His sheep, as all good shepherds would. He allowed Himself to suffer and to be persecuted for our sake, and bearing our faults and sins, He carried that heavy cross and burden up the mountain to Calvary, where He offered Himself on the cross for our sake, to liberate us from the burden of sin and from the shackles of death.

And brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us who are now members of the Church, who have been baptised in the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are those who have been found amidst the darkness and distractions of this world, and who God had assembled to be His flock, to receive His love and grace forevermore. But we also have to realise that not all have been saved yet.

For salvation is only found, and can only be found in the Church. And this is the second meaning and message of today’s Scripture. Jesus had Himself said that He is the Gate, and all the sheep pass through the gate, and good shepherds pass through that gate, while crooks and thieves tried to find other means to enter the place where the flock is being kept.

If we are outside the safety of the flock, then we are in great danger of being harmed by those who seek our downfall, and these are none other than the devil, his allies and all the forces of wickedness and evil scattered all over the world. They are hungry, awaiting for us to fall into the darkness, and so that they may consume us and bring us into eternal damnation with them.

Thus, the third important message and meaning of today’s Scripture is related to this Sunday being the Vocation Sunday as well. God may have ascended back into heaven and left us His people still living on earth. But He did not leave us behind all alone, for He has appointed shepherds in His stead, to be those who care for His sheep, to protect them and guide them to Him, the Good Shepherd of all His creations.

And these shepherds are our priests, those who dedicated themselves to the service of the Lord and His people in His Church. The vocation to the priesthood and the flock of people joining the priestly life is what we are concerned about today, since we all well know, how with the changing times, it is getting ever more and more difficult for us to have those who are willing to commit themselves to the Lord as His servants.

There are fewer and fewer young men who are willing to join the priesthood and enter the seminaries. Seminaries are getting emptier and smaller, and many even had to shut down because they no longer have anyone passing through their gates to prepare themselves for a life of service to God. Too many have been lured in by the temptations of the world, for the life of the world today is so much more exciting and pleasurable to us mankind, rather than the hard and tough life of a priest.

But without good and faithful shepherds like our priests, then who will bring the flock of the Lord to Him? Who will bring the countless lost sheep of the Lord back to His love? It is why today, all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all called to reflect on this dire state of our Church and our faith, in how we have that great need for many labourers of God’s love. God Himself had said it in another occasion, that while the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.

Therefore, let us all pray together, brethren, that God will open the eyes, the hearts and the minds of those whom He has chosen to be His servants, and that they would not resist nor refuse the calling, but instead discern on them carefully, and hopefully that they will eventually decide to walk the path of priesthood, becoming shepherds to us, God’s beloved creation, and help to bring many lost souls to the salvation of God in the Church.

May God bless our priests, and also bless our young men, that many more people will embrace the call to service, and accept the vocation to priesthood, so that by their good works, they may bring many more people closer to God, and prevent many from being lost to hell and eternal damnation. May the Lord, our Good Shepherd, bless us all, now and forever. Amen.