Today we celebrate Vocations Sunday
as well as Mother’s Day. On this vocations Sunday, the Church, our Mother,
calls on us to pray that young men and women may hear the voice of the good
Shepherd and give themselves to God and the Church in service as ordained
ministers of the word and the sacraments and as religious and men and women in
consecrated life. We also encourage lay participation and collaboration with
the clergy to promote and build the kingdom of God in love and service. May our
young men and women listen to the voice of the Good shepherd “who came not be
served but to serve and gave his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).
We pay tribute today also to our
mothers for their contribution in our lives. Yes, “the hands that rock the
cradle rules the world.” We thank them for not aborting us when we were being
formed in their wombs, but gave birth to us, nurtured us, provided for us both
naturally and spiritually and contributed to making us who and what we are
today. We are grateful, not only to our biological mothers, but also to those
who played the role of mothers in our lives and the lives others. Without our
mothers and women like them, the world would be a very difficult and fearful
place for us. Rev. John Rose, in his book ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ wrote about
six young men who went to the cemetery to pray for the woman they considered
their mother on All Souls day. “…The fourth man said, “We have more reasons to
thank this lady than any of you. Two years ago, my friends and I were
drunkards. This lady found us at the Young Men’s Christian Association rooms
and took us to her house. We told her that once we had been Christians, but we
had wandered far away into sin. She looked into our eyes and said, while tears
stood in her eyes, ‘My Jesus is anxiously hunting and calling for His wandering
sheep; let me lead you back into the fold. She prayed with us, she entreated
for Jesus’ sake, for our mothers’ sake and for our own sake. She induced us to
sign the pledge; place her hands upon our heads, and offered, Oh, such prayers
for us. Then and there, new strength came into our lives and from that day to
this, by the grace of God, we have been able to live a sober life. Boys, I tell
you, this dear woman was a mother to us. Her name is Sara Houghton Fawcett”.
That is the power of love, forgiveness, care, affection and mercy that
courageous and God-fearing women have over us. Where would we be without
them!
Jesus tells us in the Gospel
reading of today that he is the Good Shepherd. The shepherd has the heart of
the mother who knows her children by name and only thinks of their good and
welfare. By calling himself a good Shepherd, Jesus contrasts himself from other
shepherds who are not good. We see this in Ezekiel 34. “…Woe to the shepherds
of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather
pasture sheep?” You have fed off their milk, worn their wool, and slaughtered
the fatlings, but the sheep you have not pastured…. I will claim my sheep from
them and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep so that they may no longer
pasture themselves…I myself will look after and tend my sheep.” The leaders of
Israel did not look after the children of Israel after the heart of God the
good shepherd, hence, God snatched the sheep from their care and appointed his
own dear son to look after his people. As a good shepherd Jesus loves the sheep
of his flock, he prepared a meal for them, “when they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Come,
have breakfast” (Jn. 21:9,12). He gave them the bread of life, his body and
blood and promised that “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal
life, and I will raise him on the last day” (Jn. 6:54). He protected them from
danger, “They came and woke him saying, “Master, master, we are perishing!” He
awakened, rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a
calm” (Lk. 8:24). Christ is always with the sheep of his flock till the end of
time.
There is a big contrast also
between the good shepherd and the present-day prophets, priests and preachers.
Many are not different from the prophets and shepherd of the time of Ezekiel.
There are many preachers today who only care about themselves and what they can
get from their congregation. They preached prosperity and looks for ways to
enrich themselves. They extort money from their people in the name of tithes.
They build mansions for themselves, buy fleet of cars and aeroplane and jets in
the name of preaching the gospel while most of their congregants are
impoverished. To them also the good shepherd directs his words of admonition.
They must abandon their ways and take care of those entrusted to them after the
heart of the good shepherd.
Since Christ is our shepherd, we
are his sheep. We must listen to the voice of our shepherd and follow his
instruction so that he may lead us to green pastures. There are many discordant
voices competing for our attention. At times these voices are so strong that
they drown the voice of the good shepherd and mislead us. Jesus gave the power
of good leadership to the church and her teaching. We should not pick and
choose what teaching we want to follow and which one to abandon because we do
not like it. Following the master and heeding his voice may not always be easy
for us. It may lead us to wash our robes white with the blood of the lamb,
(Second reading) or we may suffer in trying to proclaim him to the ends of the
world, (first reading) but follow him, we must. We know, and we believe that
the good shepherd will be with always, even till the end of world. He laid down
his life for us and nothing will ever separate us from his hands.
