The Good Shepherd
Lays Down His Life for His Sheep
(See Jn 10:11)
Dear Sisters
and Brothers in Christ,
The Gospel
Reading of this Sunday, the Good shepherd Sunday, provides us with a striking
contrast between an authentic shepherd and a fake one.
These are four
characteristics of a good shepherd:
One, the
sheep are his own. Christ our Lord came
to teach the Good News of God’s merciful love and gather all who believe in Him
into a community as sheep whose leader is Christ Himself. The Church which He
founded is the great work of His love for all peoples, created by God in the
divine image, regardless of their different races, languages, and social status. This is why His Church is called “catholic”:
the sheep gathering from the four corners of the earth and from all ages of
history.
Two, he
knows his sheep and his know him. There
is a need for understanding terms used in the Holy Bible. By “to know”, the Sacred Book means not only
merely intellectual act, but also emotional relationship and real sharing of
life. This is how Christ knows us, His
sheep, when He knows each and one of us by calling us by name; when His heart
was moved seeing us hungry and lost; when He gave us His Body and Blood for our
food.
Three, he
has concern not only for the sheep being in his watch and care but also for the
lost sheep. After committing sins, humanity has become separated from God’s
love, divided among themselves, even enemy of one another. The worst evil is that they deny the true God
and worship false idols. Christ wants to
save all these lost sheep, too.
Fourth, he
is ready to lay down his own life for his sheep. Christ did not say this alone, but He did
this to save our lives from the hand of Satan by His Suffering and Death on the
Cross.
Now, these
are four evidences by which a fake shepherd is unmasked:
First,
basically he is not a shepherd. He is
simply paid to do the job of a caretaker.
It is worse that sometimes he takes over the sheep from others when no
one wants to pay him for doing this job because they know that he is just a
robber.
Second, he
works for pay. Money is for him
everything. It is worse when the
dishonest caretaker does not feed the sheep but he only abuses them, exploits
them, takes milk, wool, and even slaughters them for meat.
Third, sheep
are not his. This is already obvious. He
is just a hired worker, and often a thief, a robber. Of course, he has no concern for the sheep
but for his own interest and profit.
Fourth, from
any danger he is the first to run away for his own survival, leaving the sheep slaughtered. Very often he makes the sheep his shield or
scapegoat, ready to betray them at all costs for his safety.
We pray to
Christ, our Lord, the Good Shepherd, for the blessing of honest and caring
leaders for both the Church and the country. We also pray for those in power to be well aware of their responsibility
before God the Master of history and the Judge of absolute Truth and Justice.
Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
