Introduction.
Let’s start thinking about today’s “Good Shepherd Sunday” with answers to a few questions: Which priest do I remember most often? Why? Is there something about the priest that appeals to me? What do I expect from a priest? Do I know what it is to be a priest? Do I pray for priests and priestly religious vocations? Did I ever think I could be a priest or religious? Have I ever thought of becoming a religious sister?
SERMON:
We have already met many priests who baptized us, taught religion, prepared for the first St. communion, confession, confirmation… which we heard preach, saw burying our dearest ones, with whom we had a fight on the street, and heard about them.
A priest in the Roman Catholic Church is a man who has recognized in his life that God is calling him to renounce his own family, although he will remain a man, he will not say “mine” to any woman and “mine” to any child. He studies and prepares for the mission of a preacher of God’s word, minister of the sacraments, a man of prayer, who presents requests to God for himself and those entrusted to him, asks him for sins, adores and bows to God, thanks for graces and gifts. The parish becomes his family.
During a joint recreation, a boy asks, “Uncle, are you a priest?” “No. I’m a priest!” “Excuse me.” He apologized and left thoughtfully. He did not understand what a priest was.
Another boy asks, “What do you do?” And he gets this answer: “I teach, and I’m not a teacher.” I heal, and I’m not a doctor. I judge, and I am not a judge. I wear different clothes, and I’m not an actor. I speak to many people, and I’m not a politician.” And the boy says, “You can’t be anything but a priest.”
What is associated with the word priest. Archaeology, history and the present pronounce the word priest. It would seem that people today know more about the priesthood. And yet no! A priest is always a person with his strengths and weaknesses. However, he has a power that he did not give himself, that was not given to him by people but by God. He was given the mission to accompany a person from his conception, not only to the grave, but his power extends to eternity, because he can “retain” and “forgive” sins. He blesses the cradle, the marriage bed and the grave. He is called the father of children by elders, men, and women, and yet he is not related to them. Many would be happy if he followed their wishes, obeyed them, carried out their orders. And he can’t, because he has to fulfill the will of the one who sent him, Jesus Christ, whom he calls his Master.
A priest is never alone. Not when he lives alone, not when he prays alone, not when he serves the Holy Mass alone, not even when people despise his services… because Jesus is always with him, who chose him from among many, to proclaim to the world all that is necessary for salvation.
When he said “With God’s help I want and promise” during his priestly ordination, he took on his shoulders the duties and rights to fulfill everything that Christ established for a Catholic priest. The priest is sent to the parish by the bishop, who is the successor of the apostles. He promised respect and obedience to the bishop during his priestly ordination. Each bishop with the Holy Father watches over the teaching of faith and morals. Everyone, including the Pope, the local bishop and the priest, where their mission is appropriate to the situation, fulfills not their own will but the will of God because the Holy Spirit governs the Church.
The Lord Jesus therefore declared about himself: “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
The Lord Jesus said these words so that the Pharisees and scribes would not doubt that he was expected by the people and predicted by the prophets that he was the Messiah. He used words about the shepherd and the flock for understanding, which every educated Jew knew from the Scriptures. Through the mouths of the prophets, God is presented several times as a shepherd. The prophet Ezekiel writes: “This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will seek my sheep and visit them. As a shepherd visits his flock when he is amid scattered sheep… I myself will feed my sheep and put them in the basket myself… I will search for the lost, I will bring back the driven away, and I will shepherd them conscientiously” (Ez 34,11-12.15-16).
Jesus is rightly called the Good Shepherd. He knows every person by name as God, because he is God who is Love, an omniscient, omnipresent God… When Jesus says about himself: “I am the gate” (
Jn 10:9), he explains that no one but him has the right, the power, to claim a person. In the same way, every person is obliged to do everything that God asks of him. Only Jesus Christ is the Redeemer and Savior of the world, to whom the Father has given power over the whole world. All others who mislead people, usurp the position of God, the power of God, the glory of God are thieves, and robbers, who await a just and severe judgment.
Jesus clearly revealed the truth. By his death and resurrection, he proved that he is true God and true man. Therefore, everyone must love God, know him and fulfill his will.
The truth is that only an ordained priest can be designated as a valid pastor and that parishioners can cooperate with him, but they can never replace him. A priest should not allow himself to exceed his duties as a shepherd. For the parish, its own priest as a shepherd is of fundamental importance. The title of shepherd is specifically reserved for a priest. The sacred ordination of the priesthood is, in fact, an irreplaceable and necessary condition for the priest to be a valid shepherd… The Church community needs the ministry of the priesthood so that Christ and the Shepherd – the Head – are present in it. Christ is present in the Church in an eminent way in the Eucharist, the source and culmination of church life. He is truly present in the celebration of Holy Mass, as well as in the consecrated bread in the Tabernacle. Where there are no priests, there is
it is necessary to ask the Lord for them. It would be a fatal mistake to resign and pretend that we have to prepare the Church of tomorrow, because some have a vision of a Church devoid of priests. In this way, the measures taken to correct the current situation would end up, despite good intentions, as severe damage to the church community. The parish is a privileged place for preaching the word of God. A pastor should be very familiar with God’s word and should try to be as effective as possible in his preaching ministry.
Even if there seems to be a relative decrease in vocations to the priesthood or the religious state, it is right to pray for new vocations and those who fulfill their mission in consecrated life. However, today’s Sunday of the Good Shepherd has a different intention. Let us all pray for our holiness, to which we are called since receiving the sacrament of baptism. Since receiving baptism, we have been aware of the words of the Lord Jesus: “The gatekeeper opens and the sheep listen to his voice” (Jn 10:3). It is right that the parishioners do not forget the priest in their prayers.
The village of Lu in northern Italy, 50 km from Turin, is fascinating. In what and why? This village, which has 3,000 inhabitants, gave the Church 323 spiritual vocations in one hundred years. Of these, 151 religious and diocesan priests and 171 religious sisters who belong to 41 different congregations. It is not uncommon to have several professions from the same family. Why so many jobs? What is the cause of this? What has happened? It was a priest, Mons. Alexander Conor, who was zealous for vocations. He introduced a day of prayer for vocations every month in the parish. In addition, he involved families, parents, and children in prayers. God heard the pleas of fathers and mothers, and the youth heard the invitation and responded to it. (Victory of the heart, No. 2, year 1996).
May there be fewer and fewer voices today who refuses to give God a child or to accept an invitation to the priesthood or religious status? Thank God that Slovakia always has new professions. We must not forget that Slovakia is also committed to missions.
The shepherd is not so relevant today. Herds of sheep are disappearing from the hillsides and the shepherd’s profession is becoming uninteresting, unfashionable, undervalued, and unrecognized. Let us pray that this is not the case with the vocation of spiritual shepherds, the vocation to serve, to help believers and non-believers in many areas of life as a religious sister, religious brother or priest.
