The most famous Psalm in the Bible is that which we hear proclaimed this Sunday – the 23rd Psalm. Almost every Christian knows it. Those powerful words—”The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want…Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me”—are often proclaimed at funerals, or other liturgies. It speaks of a profound trust in God, despite the difficulties and trials of life. The Psalm contains words of Christian hope, that speak of a confidence in Christ and His Resurrection to overcome all of life’s challenges, and that this living God who has destroyed death, is with us all the time.
As we hear this Psalm proclaimed in the weeks following Easter, it refers to the kind of trust that the disciples and Apostles learned to place in the Risen Lord. As their fear, following Christ’s arrest and crucifixion, had once caused them all to run away, in the days after His Resurrection, they found a way of trusting that He had defeated death and would be with them to sustain them all the time. In fact, one of the most popular images that would emerge in the early Church was that of the Good Shepherd carrying a sheep on His back. In our own Church, the painting of the Good Shepherd, which hangs above the tabernacle, points to the reality that because we know that Christ is with us in the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle, we have good reason to believe that He is always with us to sustain and carry us; and for that reason we are invited to trust in Him and follow Him in faith.
The way in which the disciples and Apostles came to trust in the Risen Lord is a central theme of this Easter Season. As we have heard in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles throughout the Easter Season, in the days following Pentecost, the followers of Christ are called to continue His work through their mission within the Church. For the past few weeks, the first reading has begun with the words: “When the day of Pentecost had come…” After this introduction, the reading from the Acts of the Apostles skips a whole chapter and resumes by telling the story about how Peter took up the mission of preaching and continuing Christ’s work. Whereas in the Gospels the followers of Jesus were known as His friends, disciples and Apostles, in the Acts of the Apostles, and post-resurrection writings, they are identified as the Church, the Body of Christ active in the world. All that Jesus did in the Gospel, the Apostles and disciples continue to do in the Acts of the Apostles. This is what we are called to do as members of the Church today. As we have renewed our baptismal faith and promises at Easter, so too the call of the readings in this Easter Season are intended to call us to hear the voice of Christ in our lives and take up our mission in the life of the Church.
For those who were actually baptized this Easter, the time following the celebration of the Sacraments at the Easter Vigil actually has the special name of the “Mystagogy.” This is intended as a period of time in which they reflect upon what happened to them at their baptism and what it actually means for them to be members of the Church. The fact that they are members of the Church, is regarded as a direct result of them having heard the call of Christ and the fact that they responded to this call through their Baptism, Confirmation and celebration of their first Eucharist. Having been called by Christ, they, and all the baptized are to respond to Christ’s call to follow Him and live a life of discipleship. In the R.C.I.A., as we do this, some of the themes that are being investigated by the newly baptized are: the call to ongoing conversion; the call to holiness that belongs to all of the baptized; the role of the laity; ways in which they might get involved in the life of the Church through different ministries; how the baptismal call is to be lived out in the family and in the day to day situations of their lives; and how they as members of the baptized have a responsibility to support the Church through their gifts of time, treasure and talents. For them, as for us, the Easter season is a time to be aware that through Baptism we are the Church and whatever it is that we expect the Church to be doing is what we are called to do ourselves as members of Christ’s Body.
In order to emphasize the theme of discipleship that belongs to all of the Baptized, on the Fourth Sunday of Easter each year, the Church celebrates Good Shepherd Sunday and marks the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word “vocare,” which means “to call.” In Baptism, each Christian has been called by Christ, the Good Shepherd, to follow Him in order that he or she might live in Christ’s presence here today and for all eternity in Heaven. Good Shepherd Sunday is to serve as a reminder that each and every Christian has a vocation- a call- to follow Christ, the Good Shepherd. In the Church, there are many different vocations. The principal vocations are to the married life, the single life, the life of religious men and women, the priesthood, and for some the permanent diaconate. One of the challenges for the Church is that most Catholics understand that nuns, brothers and priests have a vocation, but they do not understand that if they are baptized, they too have a vocation. Every Christian has a vocation and is called whether single, married, religious or ordained to live life in response to Christ and His love. Just as those who were baptized at Easter are called in the Easter season to think about how they live their baptismal call, so too all of us are invited in this Easter season to think about how we live our baptismal calls and the way we are responding to Christ’s love for us.
Just as the first disciples did not initially follow Christ because of their fear; today as well, there are many fears that keep people from following Christ and committing to a life of discipleship. These fears might include what a person could lose out on if she or he were to take Christ’s invitation to discipleship seriously. While many people look forward to the joys of Heaven after death, they may not believe that the abundant life which Christ assures in today’s Gospel is possible by following Jesus. As we hear of the many false prophets who attempt to lead the flock, we can think of the many false gods who offer us empty fulfillment and attempt to take us away from Christ’s call to discipleship. Wealth, temptation, reputation and many other passing realities attempt to offer us fulfillment, leaving us empty in the end. It is only Christ who can offer the fulfillment that does not pass away, but rather leads to eternal life. Today we hear of so many “woke” ideologies that promise false happiness. The measure of these movements has to be gaged based upon whether they truly do free and liberate the human person. On the campuses of most of our universities, and government agencies, these woke ideologies have more of an imprisoning effect, as they deny science and force people to acknowledge falsehoods that are completely fabricated or face the fate of being branded a “hater” if they do not blindly accept the conjured reality. The call to all Christians is to lovingly speak the truth, without fear of the false prophets who attempt to impose a culture of “feeling is truth.” For the Christian, the way, truth and life must always be Jesus Christ.
As the Church celebrates the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, we who are baptized are reminded that we ought not be frightened to live our vocations in the world. This means having the courage to witness to our faith in the world. It also means daring to live and love as Christ and the Scriptures invite us to live. For young and single adults, it means daring to live chastity and believing in the sacredness of marriage. As a community, we should be praying for good and healthy marriages and encouraging couples not to settle for cohabitation and arrangements of convenience. As a community we are to support married couples and families. The separated and divorced are to be welcomed in our communities and to be prayed for that they may experience healing and love. So too, those who have been widowed and are now alone should know of God’s love and the community’s support. Single persons also play an extremely important role in the life of the Christian community and their gifts of time, treasure and talent are to be encouraged and prized in the life of the community. Just as St. Paul tells us that every organ of the body has a role to play in its healthy existence, so too each baptized person is to be invited to take up his or her role in the Church.
Here at St. Peter’s Church, we are blessed with a diversity of vocations that is much richer than that found in most parish communities. There are many communities of religious women in our community. There is a religious brother who attends Mass here at St. Peter’s. There are many different single and family people in our parish. We are also blessed with many seminarians from the Society of Jesus who serve here while they are studying at Regis College. One of the great truths of the Church since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s has been the development and encouragement of the role of the laity. The life of the Church is impossible today without a vital laity. However, just as the Church needs a vital laity, it also has a great need for religious men and women and those who will be ordained to the diaconate and priesthood. As a community, we need to pray for vocations to religious life and the ordained life. If you are a young person, please think of your vocation and how the Lord is calling you to respond to your baptismal call. Do not be afraid to consider a vocation to marriage, the priesthood or the religious life. It is also important that we encourage vocations to the priesthood and religious life. If you see a young person, whom you think might be a good priest or religious women or man, please encourage them and ask them to consider such a vocation. The problem today is not that the Lord is not calling men and women; but rather that so many are too distracted by the false prophets and gods of our age to listen and respond. Please pray for and encourage all vocations within the life of our universal Church and parish community.
As we hear in the Psalm this Sunday, the Lord is our Shepherd, who calls us to follow Him and trust in His loving providence. As it was for the first disciples, the future for all of us is uncertain. We may not know the way the Lord has in mind for each of us, but our faith in the Risen Christ invites us to trust that the same God we have professed as Risen at Easter, walks with us and calls us onward as His disciples today. Knowing that the Risen Lord is with us, may we be certain that whatever life brings our way, if we are faithful to His calling, we may say: “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.”
Please pray for vocations!
Fr. Michael McGourty,
Pastor- St. Peter’s Parish—Toronto, Ontario
This reflection based on the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter—Year A: Acts 2:14a, 36b-41; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2: 20b-25; and John 10:1-10.
