Today is Good Shepherd Sunday.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd said: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
People usually think of abundant life, eternal life, divine life with Christ mainly in terms of life after death – after our earthly life - but people do not realize that having abundant divine eternal life can begin now in our life of faith in Christ – even before death – We can have eternal life in the here and now… As we say in the Our Father… “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”
… and when we speak of abundant life – it does not mean being wealthy or rich or having a lot of worldly possessions.
The most important things in life could not be bought at any price. They are priceless.
Also, fullness of life does not mean living a long life. Jesus did not live very long, but he lived His life to its fullest… He lived as the Father meant Him to live His life.. being obedient even unto death on the cross.
That is why – abundant life - fullness of life - also - does not mean freedom from troubles and sufferings. Probably no one ever faced more problems than Jesus did. He was misunderstood by just about everyone, even by his closest friends. He was persecuted, betrayed, denied, forsaken, and crucified. And yet, somehow through it all, he was able to live – we can say - fully - with courage, with hope and even with joy and peace.
So - you see - To be fully alive is to be like Christ – to have our will aligned or in communion with the will of God…
St. Iranaeus explained and expressed it so profoundly: “The glory of God is a human being fully alive…” meaning – What gives God happiness – so to speak - is that we are fully alive... being and living - as God created us to be.
To live life abundantly - what is necessary is a personal intimate relationship with Jesus – the Gate to Abundant Life – Jesus said – “I am the Gate…I am the Good Shepherd”… Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…”
Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26). That is the essence of the Good News…
Like the sheep – as the Lord’s flock - we all rely on the Lord to protect us from the crises and troubles that we will inevitably have to face throughout our lives.
Admittedly – realistically - Life is too difficult at times – too complicated - for us to make it through safely – by ourselves. We need direction. We need protection. We need a savior – We need a Good Shepherd.
We cannot rely solely on ourselves. We are dependent upon the Lord. That's why we need to pray every day. We need to keep our eyes focused on the Lord. That is why we need to always listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd. That's why we need to come to Mass at least every Sunday. That's why we need to receive the Eucharist – the Bread of Life. Jesus said: “I am the Bread of Life.”
Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ – we receive the grace that gives meaning, purpose and direction to our lives. Jesus is the gate, so to speak, to abundant life.
And – as baptized Christians – we share in the mission of Christ… We need to proclaim and share this Good News of abundant life in Christ with others so that they, too will have abundant life.
We also need to always remember that to live life abundantly - we cannot just have a relationship and pay attention to the Shepherd only. It is NOT just only “between Jesus and me” alone. We must also pay attention to the rest of His flock – that we do not to ignore or abuse our neighbor.
Fullness of life means accepting God’s love and in return giving love. We were created in the image and likeness of God who is Love and so our very nature is also to love… not so much to be loved…but to love… BE LOVE AS GOD IS LOVE.
And so - we need to ask ourselves these important questions – as individuals and as a community:
- Are we faithful members of God’s flock?
- How can we participate more in shepherding God’s flock?
- How can we be better shepherds ourselves in our own state of life – so that through us - others – starting with those in our own families - they may hear the loving voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd?
After Jesus’ resurrection - Jesus commissioned Peter to feed his lambs and to tend his sheep (John 21:15-16)… meaning - shepherding God’s flocks is an ongoing task, ongoing mission that is entrusted to the whole church - to all of us – not just to the clergies – but to all of us - We are the Church - with Peter as the head… with the Pope, the successor of Peter - as the head.
Because of our trust and respect for the Lord, because of our obedience to Christ - we put a tremendous faith in the leaders Christ has given us. Sooner or later – we will realize that we do not know and cannot know everything and that we cannot understand or comprehend everything… that we cannot rely solely on our own innate sense of knowledge we think we have… we cannot rely on our own efforts and intellect to understand the mystery of God, of His church, of the mystery of life.
We will realize sooner or later how mistaken we can be when and if left on our own. That is why it is such a blessing to be guided by our Bishop, and an even greater blessing to be guided by the Bishop of Rome – our Pope…and we have such an awesome Pope – Pope Leo - who along with the bishops and priests - they shepherd us and so we need to pray for more vocations to priesthood and religious life – for more good shepherds like Christ.
There are many voices out there and we often follow the wrong voice.
And so - we have to be very careful with what we watch, read or listen to or whom we listen to in the media. We cannot and should not be getting our religious formation from TV, from the internet, from social media, from secular newspapers, or from so-called latest fad religious novels because usually - and people are not aware of this - the scripts, articles or novels are written by non-believers or people with even an anti-Catholic agenda and so you have to be very careful. There are so many fake news instead of Good News.
During this time of the year, in our parish - as well as in many other parishes, our little ones are preparing for their First Holy Communion.
Think of this – and let us be mindful of this all the time – What do you think are the chances do our children have - to survive in the world – not just physically but in their entirety as a human being? There are people out there ready to take advantage of them in every way possible – given the opportunity.
Morality has declined and the morality of our children, of our youth, of our young adults - is always on constant attack on every front – even from their classmates, teachers, leaders, peers and playmates. Without Christ, they will flounder through life. But - With Christ, they can get through the storm and the chaos of life. The most important legacy you can leave your children is your faith in Christ.
AND - WE – you and I – all of us -my brothers and sisters in Christ – WE are called to be the Body of Christ for them…. We need to protect them… we need to guide them… and even to sacrifice for them, if necessary.
But of course – we cannot give what we do not have… We can only lead someone as deep as we have been.
So – the question is - and let us ask ourselves – Who is our Shepherd?
Do we ourselves PERSONALLY know the Good Shepherd?
God bless…
