When I was asked to write this column for The Catholic Spirit, I agreed without paying attention to the date for which I was asked to provide a reflection for the Sunday readings.
Alas, had I known I was going to be writing for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday, I think I may have passed on the invitation, as there are so many other priests far more deserving of writing on the topic of being a shepherd. Yet, since I did agree to pen this column, I shall do my best to offer a worthy reflection on shepherding.
When I was ordained a priest in 2010, I took on the role of being a shepherd in the name of Christ. Whatever authority or credibility I possess as a priest, it is only commensurate to the degree to which I follow Christ. Truly, the Good Shepherd is not Pope Francis, Archbishop Hebda or our local pastor; it is and always will be Jesus Christ alone. Yet, interestingly enough, in the 10th chapter of St. John’s Gospel, which we read at Mass this weekend, the Lord does not refer to himself as a shepherd, but instead as the gate. “I am the gate for the sheep,” Jesus informs the Pharisees.
As the gate, Christ positions himself in the role of the mediator of salvation, through whom all must pass to be saved. Yet, in order for the sheep to pass through the gate and enter into the gatekeeper’s pasture, someone needs to lead them. By establishing the priesthood, the Savior provides a means for his people to join him in paradise.
Many parishes will honor their priests on Good Shepherd Sunday, but this honor should not be one of aggrandizement for the priest. Instead, the honor should be a call for the priest to live up to the model of the Good Shepherd. As St. Peter states in his epistle that serves as the second reading this weekend, the priest is called to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who is identified by the Prince of Apostles — in a wonderfully strong turn of phrase — as, “the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” To whatever extent a priest can be said to be a shepherd, it is only to the extent that he is first, one of the sheep. No doubt, such an insight is behind Pope Francis’ famous remark that a priest should smell like the flock.
We live during an era of hyper-individuality that prizes autonomy as the ultimate good for a human person. In such a society, shepherds and sheep are bizarre images that strike people as insulting or even threatening. Nevertheless, as Catholics, we must embrace such imagery and identify with our role as sheep through humble obedience to Christ and those whom his providence has placed in roles of leadership over us. Similarly, should the Lord ever place us into a role of shepherding people through his gate, we should carry out such a task with humility and never for our own personal gain. It is indeed by acting this way that we will then be able to truly claim God as our shepherd and dwell in his house forever.
Father Meyers is pastor of St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo. He can be reached at nate.meyers@stfxb.org.
Sunday, April 30
Fourth Sunday of Easter
