Vitam Abundantius Habeant

4th Sunday of Easter

11 May, 2014

THEY WILL HAVE LIFE ABUNDANTLY, who recognise and follow the true shepherd. For the good shepherd does not flinch or run at the sight of the wolf, but rather lays down his life to save his sheep. 

This Sunday, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, is a good time for us to reflect on the flock that we are each a part of. In the preceding weeks we have heard a great deal about the earliest Christian communities in readings from the Acts of the Apostles. The sense of community was central to the propagation of the faith— the bonds between pastor and flock and among the sheep of the flock were intimate. The survival of the Church depended on these bonds of love and trust. And in those turbulent times, it would not be unusual for a pastor to lay down his life for his sheep, for his faith, for his Lord, just as the Lord had done for him. 

Today, the call to an intimate communion of the faithful is no less urgent than it was for our founding fathers. For sure we need pastors, good pastors, strong pastors, capable of leading and defending their flocks. But evangelization is not the function of pastor alone. Rather, we, the flock that is led by the hand of The Lord and anointed with his Spirit are charged with building his Church through the testimony of our faith and the example of our lives; thereby accomplishing our commission to gather sheep who are from other pastures into the one flock of Christ. 

The life that we have gained in Christ the good shepherd, who leads us to green pastures, must be lived to the full; as a true witness to the love of our shepherd, who died that we may live. And such a life is not to be lived looking inward at ourselves but with an ostensible joy that reveals the gift of peace and love that Christ left us — a love and peace to be shared among the family of the faithful and to be carried to all people — the first-fruits of the Spirit that draws-in the unbeliever, softening even the hardest of hearts to be receptive to the Good News of salvation. 

Let us look, then, at the way we live and at the way we come together as a flock to celebrate the paschal mystery of our salvation — if our Heavenly Father were to send a lost sheep into our lives or into our church community, what would he see? Would we be able to bring this lost sheep home, into the flock of Christ?

Today is indeed a good day to pray for vocations. But not just for priestly vocations. The whole flock of Christ has a vocation — a calling to have life so abundantly that it shines forth from us like a beacon to guide all whom the Father sends to us, away from the wolves, thieves and robbers into the safe and loving embrace of Christ the true shepherd. 

Let us pray, then, for our pastors, that their vocation to lead, love and protect us may be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. And let us pray also for our own vocation, that as sheep in the flock of Christ, we may recognise the voice of our shepherd and more readily heed his call to follow him, to have life in him, and through this life to bring all people to know and love him. Amen.