Fourth Sunday of Easter
Recently, I acquired some baby chickens. I figured it would better to spend money on a hobby than on therapy. Nevertheless, taking care of these chicks has been very interesting. Besides feeding them well, I have to make sure I take them out during the day when it is warmer and bring them inside on cold nights. The first day I put them outside, there were three hawks circling over the coop. A little carelessness and the chicks would be food for the predators. My biggest challenge is to protect them from yet another fierce predator – sweet little Tutu. She is having a rough time. All her life I have taught her to fetch, and she simply cannot understand why I will not allow her to fetch the chicks. Since I got the baby chickens, I have been given some interesting pseudo names. Somebody called me a ‘chicken-tender’ the other day. Someone even called me a ‘chick magnet.’ Just so you know, the real term for someone who tends chickens is, ‘poulterer’ or a ‘chicken farmer.’
Jesus describes himself as a shepherd. But he is no ordinary shepherd. He is the “Good Shepherd” (Jn 10:11). Perhaps, Jesus could have described himself in many other ways. In line with the Messianic expectations of the time, he could have called himself a warrior, or a king. But Jesus describes himself as a shepherd. Perhaps, the reason Jesus uses the shepherd imagery is because it is the most consistently and frequently used image of God on the Old Testament. From the book of Genesis, all the way through the historical books, wisdom literature, and the prophetic books, the image of God as a shepherd is the most prominent image. We do not have to be reminded of the frequently used refrain from Psalm 23:2, “The Lord is my Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” The imagery also served well for the Palestinian population because they were an agricultural people, and they understood the imagery. Probably there were sheep in most households. Besides meat, an unblemished lamb was required for the Passover each year. Sheep was also a commonly sacrificed animal at the temple. Perhaps, the most important reason Jesus used the imagery of the shepherd was because he felt that the people were like sheep without a shepherd. There were shepherds but they were the like “a hired man, who is not a shepherd” (Jn 10:12). Jesus, on the contrary is “the good shepherd.” He the good because he lays down his life for the sheep.
My three practical implications for today are based three sayings of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in today’s gospel reading.
“I know mine and mine know me.”
The chick that I recently acquired, already recognize me. For example, when the chicks see Tutu racing toward them, they all run into the coop and hide. But if I go alone, they do not run away. They already know that I bring them food and water. I have gotten to know them too! I know that they like grated carrots but not grated zucchini.
Even though the chicks depend on me, they do not have a relationship with me. They do not know me. For Jesus, it is the intimate relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep that is important. He says, “I know mine and mine know me” (Jn 6:14). The Good Shepherd cares for the sheep, provides for them, protects them, tends to them, but most importantly loves them knows them. The expectation is that the sheep also know the shepherd, hear his voice, follow his direction, but most of all know him. Jesus is the Good Shepherd to knows us.
This week, let us take the time to reflect on our relationship with the Good Shepherd. The invitation from the Shepherd is to know Him, to hear His voice, follow His commands, and most of all love Him love Him.
“I will lay down my life for the sheep”
The image of a sheep being sacrificed for a greater good was very prominent in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ time. Even if the shepherd knew his sheep, loved them, cared for them, and protected them, a day would come when the sheep would either become food or temple sacrifice. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he changed this dynamic. Instead of the sheep being sacrificed, the Shepherd laid down his life. The Shepherd becomes food and sacrifice. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because as he says, “I will lay down my life for the sheep” (Jn 10:15). This is an act of supreme self-sacrificial love. As John says in today’s second reading, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.” (1 Jn 3:1). It is Jesus’ self-sacrificial love that accomplished this for us.
If Jesus could lay down his life for the sheep, I hope as His sheep who listen to His voice, we can learn from Him. They key is self-sacrificial love. For example, the correlation between self-sacrificial love and the quality of family life need not be debated. The more everybody in the family makes loving self-sacrifices for the family, the better for it is for family life. Similarly, the greater the self-giving everyone is at work, the greater the contentment and productivity. Even one person can ruin it all. The more we care for the earth the more the earth will give back to us. The more we sacrifice for the common good the more society will be at peace and in harmony. As we live our daily lives, may the love that the Father has bestowed upon us, and the example of the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for us, be our model.
“There will be one flock, one shepherd”
In Jewish Messianic expectation, one of the role of the Messiah was to gather all the Jewish people as one. But Jesus does not limit the flock to only the Jewish people. He says, “I have other sheep that do not belong to the fold” (Jn 10: 16). Jesus is the Good Shepherd not just for the Jewish people but for the whole world. Jesus changed the dynamic. Jesus laid down his life for the world. It was his hope that he world outside will be drawn into the fold because of his self-gift to the world. Today, the world is anything but one. There is one Shepherd, but even the community of believers are divided. Even Catholics are not united as a people who have one Shepherd.
When it comes to oneness and unity, perhaps you feel as helpless as I do. We do not have control over the affairs of the world or the Church. We may not be able to control things beyond our ability, but we sure can be individuals who do not create or contribute to the disunity. I think the biggest step we can take is to focus on our common humanity rather than focus on the differences. First, we are all human beings and God’s children. Second. we all come from God and we must all return to God. Third, we all have the same command – to love God and to bestow on one another the same love that the Father has bestowed upon us. If we can do this, then we will be do our part so that there might one shepherd and one flock. Let us join hands with Jesus to fulfil his dream.
As we celebrate this Eucharist, let us realize that we are not sheep. We are God’s children. Let us be God’s people, united with Christ in his mission. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph