Yesterday, we celebrated “Good Shepherd Sunday,” and today, we hear a reminder of how Jesus, the Good Shepherd, leads us, through both His teaching and His Church.
Jesus, knowing our human nature, has provided us with men He has chosen to shepherd us in His Name. The Church of Jesus Christ has one Good Shepherd, and He has chosen others, like Peter, to exercise a spiritual and pastoral leadership of the Church and all souls.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is faced with the challenge of how to understand and teach the universal call of Jesus for all to become brothers and sisters in His Name. Specifically, Peter is asked, how could the Gentiles be part of Christ’s Church? How could those who were not strict observers of the Mosaic law and all its rituals share in the same worship and community?
Peter explains in a Saul-type vision experience how God has given the Gentiles the same gift of baptism through the Holy Spirit as they have received. And, if this is true, who is He to deny them membership in the Church?
Once those who had questioned Peter realize that the Gentiles have not only accepted Jesus’ teaching, but also received the Holy Spirit through Peter’s divinely inspired explanation, they stop objecting and glorify God.
I think there’s a lesson in there for all of us.
A trusted man of God, entrusted by Jesus to lead others to Him, listened to concerns, listened to God's message, and taught Jesus’ message, causing the questioners to stop objecting. Upon sincere thought, reason, and faith, those with concerns didn’t go looking for someone to validate their point, but instead gave glory to God.
Phil Fox Rose wrote a reflection in “Living with Christ” about the sheep needing a shepherd that sheds further light:
He began by saying, “As a former sheepherder (no kidding!) I can assure you … the metaphor of shepherd and sheep is more apt than you might think. Sheep can be docile and obedient, but they’re often skittish and hesitant. Yet they’re utterly dependent on the sheepherder for food, water, and protection.”
He goes on to state that the experience of a sheepherder can be “a maddening experience with creatures who often resist your care.” He explains how you lead them to pasture, and then they get spooked, and so you need to lead them back from fear, or just plain wandering away.
“Half the time, they’re utterly devoted to you; the other half, they’re too anxious or afraid to remember who you are.” He concludes by saying, “Sound familiar?”
Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He is also the Way or the Gate to green pastures or, more concretely, to eternal life in Heaven.
As Mr. Rose described, we sometimes get spooked, distracted, and then lost. It is then that we simply need to listen and follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd’s voice, and those He has entrusted to guide us in His Name.
Father David S. Marcham is a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and serves as Vice Postulator and Guild Director of the Cause for Canonization of Venerable Patrick Peyton. Before entering St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, he worked for eleven years as a physical therapist in Boston-area hospitals. Ordained in 2005, Father David was assigned to St. Mary Parish in Franklin, Massachusetts. His involvement in Father Peyton’s Cause began in 2007, when he assisted Father George Lucas, C.S.C., in advancing the Cause for Canonization. Appointed Vice Postulator in 2009, Father David oversees the progress of the Cause, directs the Guild, and promotes devotion to Father Peyton’s legacy of family prayer.
