Fourth Sunday of Easter, A -- April 17, 2005

    A few years ago, while reading through a statement given by a newly appointed bishop, I was surprised to hear him express something directly at odds with the words of Jesus Christ. He complained about the use of the word “sheep” to describe the Christian faithful, that this designation is derogatory and unflattering to people, according to this man, newly elevated to the office of shepherd of a diocese. Strange, isn’t it? Strange, when you compare such an attitude with that of our Lord, about whom it was said by St. John, that as Jesus would look at the crowds of people gathering around Him, He would have compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
    Every one of today’s Scripture readings either alludes to Christ as shepherd (and we as His sheep), or directly refers to Him as shepherd and we as His sheep. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want,” goes the refrain to today’s Responsorial Psalm. In today’s Gospel, our Lord is quoted as referring to Himself as the shepherd, as He who walks ahead of His sheep, and the sheep follow Him, “because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” And St. Peter, in today’s second reading, is most blunt, when he reminds us of our own experience: “For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.”
    Our Lord certainly does not hold us in contempt because of our sheep-likeness. On the contrary, He has compassion on us and presents Himself to us as the true and good Shepherd. Still, some people chafe at the idea of being considered like sheep. But notice how early on this sheep-likeness in us reveals itself. Most parents have to deal with it in their children, especially as their offspring move into the teenage years: the young person wants to do something that mom and dad see as imprudent, unwise or perhaps even immoral; and the argument goes something like this – “everyone else is dong it.” Bahhhhh, bleat the sheep. Or, notice in the political realm, how not a few people invest so much hope and aspiration in a candidate for high office, a mere mortal, how this person is going to pretty much fix everything for us. Consider the aching need, experienced by so many, to be in style and fashion with others, especially with those that our culture endows with the mantle of celebrity. Note how public opinion is almost effortlessly swayed by a powerful and ever-present media. Purveyors of snake oil remedies have always had an easy existence and a compliant clientele.
    Fact is, we are sheep, and we will have a shepherd… of some sort. As the Scriptures say, “It is not in the heart of man to direct his own steps”; and the beautiful Psalms, prayed through so often by the Church, again and again implore the direction and guidance of God for the pilgrim on the way of wisdom, truth and life. And so we see that an individual’s ability to reason, his will power and good intentions, though necessary, are insufficient. They will fail us… without the Good Shepherd. For we have so much against us: the world (in its contagious rebellion against God), the flesh (the waywardness in us that would have us listen only to that which immediately pleases us), and the devil (the prince of darkness, who is far, far more cunning than we are wise in and of ourselves).
    Jesus said that His sheep – those who really belong to Him – would hear His voice and follow Him. There are a lot of voices out there, beckoning, presenting themselves as authoritative and worthy of a devoted following. So much noise and commotion, a marketplace full claims and advertisements – political messiahs, gurus of the esoteric, interpreters of the Bible and the stars, advocates of errant lifestyles (guaranteed to make one happy). So much noise! But still the voice of Christ is speaking, and it can still be heard. Our Lord, commissioned His Apostles – that is, the foundation of His Church – assuring them that His own authority would be with them, in them: “Whoever listens to you,” He laid down for all time, “listens to me and to the One who sent me.” Christ’s voice speaks through His Church both then and now, the voice of the Good Shepherd. How consoling, how reassuring that this is so! That Christ our Good Shepherd, voicing the Truth through His holy Church, would lead us in right paths to verdant pastures, to an eternal repose beside restful waters and there, refresh our souls. “For you had gone astray like sheep,” St. Peter reminds us all, “but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.”