This Sunday is “Good Shepherd Sunday” in the Church and also marks the 52nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations in the Church.  Good Shepherd Sunday is the patronal feast day of our parish here at Good Shepherd and I am grateful to God and to Jesus the Good Shepherd who called me to be the pastor of this beautiful parish and who has entrusted me with the care of his sheep here in this part of his sheepfold.  Jesus the Good Shepherd knows his sheep and “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (Jn 10,3)  He has lead me to this wonderful community to serve his flock and to lay down my life for the members of this community.  It is a beautiful vocation of service and sacrifice that leads me closer to the Father in love and gives me great joy.  I pray that all of the members of Good Shepherd parish can hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, and will follow where he leads.

As we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday it is a good opportunity to examine our relationship to the Good Shepherd who leads us into the fullness and abundance of life.  Jesus knows each us and calls us by name.  Often because of sin and the harshness of the world that we live in, many of the sheep have taken on the characteristics of the wolves.  As we live among the wolves we can begin to become savage and aggressive like the wolves.  Jesus calls us by our names and reminds us that we are sheep, that we are, as St. John reminds us in his letter today, the “children of God” and that we are meant to grow into the image of the Good Shepherd and not the wolves that surround us in the world.  “We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1Jn 3,2)  When Jesus calls our name, he says it with such love and tenderness that we remember who we are meant to be.  We are meant to be like children, like sheep, simple, sweet, gentle, humble and holy.  We cast off the savageness of our sin and we recover our true nature as peaceful creatures, bathed in the faithful love of the shepherd, gathered into the one flock of the Father.

Pope Francis, in his message for this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, likens our call and transformation to the “exodus” experience:  “The exodus experience is paradigmatic of the Christian life, particularly in the case of those who have embraced a vocation of special dedication to the Gospel. This calls for a constantly renewed attitude of conversion and transformation, an incessant moving forward, a passage from death to life like that celebrated in every liturgy, an experience of passover. From the call of Abraham to that of Moses, from Israel’s pilgrim journey through the desert to the conversion preached by the prophets, up to the missionary journey of Jesus which culminates in his death and resurrection, vocation is always a work of God. He leads us beyond our initial situation, frees us from every enslavement, breaks down our habits and our indifference, and brings us to the joy of communion with him and with our brothers and sisters. Responding to God’s call, then, means allowing him to help us leave ourselves and our false security behind, and to strike out on the path which leads to Jesus Christ, the origin and destiny of our life and our happiness.”

Pope Francis speaks of the freedom that the Christian vocation brings to all of us and the joy that ensues in answering the call of the Good Shepherd in our lives:  “This exodus towards God and others fills our lives with joy and meaning. I wish to state this clearly to the young, whose youth and openness to the future makes them open-hearted and generous. At times uncertainty, worries about the future and the problems they daily encounter can risk paralyzing their youthful enthusiasm and shattering their dreams, to the point where they can think that it is not worth the effort to get involved, that the God of the Christian faith is somehow a limit on their freedom. Dear young friends, never be afraid to go out from yourselves and begin the journey! The Gospel is the message which brings freedom to our lives; it transforms them and makes them all the more beautiful. How wonderful it is to be surprised by God’s call, to embrace his word, and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, in adoration of the divine mystery and in generous service to our neighbors! Your life will become richer and more joyful each day!”

Listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd.  Turn away from the wolves of the world and respond to the Shepherd’s call to greater freedom, beauty and joy in your life.  Pray for vocations in service to the Church, the flock of the Good Shepherd.