Two weeks ago today we celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday – as the conclusion of the weeklong celebration of Easter Day! It was a fitting summary of the preceding ten days which saw the redeeming death for us and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ – Word-of-God-Made-Flesh – so that we could be freed from our sins, and free to enter the gates of heaven and into eternal life when we die.
The application of the mercy of God is now available to all – and it is centered in Jesus, the great distributor of that mercy, the distributor of those graces, the distributor of that newness of life! We said on that day that if we could live our entire lives motivated by the phrase found on the Divine Mercy Image given to us by Jesus himself: "Jesus, I trust in you!" we would be given mercy ourselves throughout our lives – in great abundance – as we showed mercy to others - and we could also apply it to others who are also in need of God's healing, forgiving, restoring mercy!
And so the message two weeks ago was TRUST IN JESUS! Today, the message is TRUST IN THE SHEPHERDS he places over the flock of the Church. Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. It is also World Vocation Day – as we pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
Pope John Paul II – in his encyclical "Pastores dabo vobis!" i.e. "I will give you shepherds," quotes the promise of God to always provide qualified candidates for shepherd roles in his Church. Yet, knowing that these shepherds are taken from among weak human beings, always, he has given the dictate as well to "do as they say" and not necessarily as they do! Even Jesus said this to the Jewish people who questioned the authenticity of their leadership personnel! The scribes and Pharisees loved to make a great show of themselves and to lord their position over their subjects – and they basically didn't have a real clue as to the real substance of their own religion - and so Jesus says: do as they say because what they say comes from God, but do not follow their example!
I think it would be safe to say that all shepherds are imperfect, just as you are imperfect. They are sinful, as you are sinful. They are imperfect and sinful as I am imperfect and sinful! But: the more they, the more I, try to give themselves / myself totally to Jesus and his Father who are the True Shepherds, the more the Father, Jesus and the Spirit can work through them / me to shepherd the flock, to shepherd you – rightly and gently; knowledgably and safely! And you can have every confidence that you are getting the "real deal" straight from God through them. Remember, the efficacy of any sacrament, especially Eucharist, does not depend upon the holiness or the current relationship that the priest at the altar has with God. The light of God's grace cannot be dimmed at all even by a darkened pane of glass that it shines through.
This is good news! The graces and mercy of God will always be available for members of the family of God in the Church – with full force and with full effect. And God will see to it that there are enough priests to do his work! But, as the People of God, know that you have a responsibility to be an instrument in the true vocation of a person for priestly service – if you feel God moving you to do so. This means that if you know of young man of high school, college age or even older – who you think would make a good priest – simply telling him so might spark a true vocation. It also means that a parent of a young man of any age who talks of priestly service to the Church should encourage them to explore their feelings and their thoughts – especially by having them talk with someone who had similar thoughts and feelings in his early life: a priest who loves his vocation – a priest who loves the Church – a priest who loves Jesus! This is how it – a vocation: God's calling, works!
The Lord is our shepherd; we shall not want – for anything – any of us – if WE TRUST IN HIM completely, totally and with all our hearts – and then act like we really do!
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