by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
Today, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church celebrates ‘Good Shepherd Sunday’ and the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
Let us pray for the priests in our Archdiocese, who, as Bishop John Sherrington, Diocese of Westminster, says, “are servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor 4:1)…Humble witness and generous service will ensure that the person of the priest shows an authenticity of life to others so that they may believe. We thank God for priests and their priestly ministry.”
CCSJ urges you to support Generation S, our archdiocesan vocations ministry whose aim is “to encourage service to God through religious vocation.”
One example of a prayer for vocations is that produced by the Parish Vocations Committee at Our Lady of Perpetual Help:
Almighty God, you are the Lord of the Harvest; we petition you as you have told us, to ask for more labourers to serve in the vineyard of your Church. You remind us that the harvest is rich and the labourers are few. We ask that your Spirit of generosity will inspire young men and women to seriously consider the priesthood and Religious Life. Help us all to be instruments of your love who encourage and support vocations to serve your Church in the future. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
During the Chrism Mass in St Peter’s Basilica in 2013, Pope Francis reminded us that “the priest celebrates by carrying on his shoulders the people entrusted to his care and bearing their names written in his heart”. He called on the world’s priests to “be shepherds living with the smell of sheep”.
Read his homily which focused on the meaning of being “the anointed ones” through ordination: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130328_messa-crismale.html.
As he said, God anointed his servants so they would be there for others, serving “the poor, prisoners, the sick, for those who are sorrowing and alone… We need to ‘go out,’ then, in order to experience our own anointing, its power and its redemptive efficacy: to the ‘outskirts’ where there is suffering, bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight, and prisoners in thrall to many evil masters… This I ask you: be shepherds, living with the ‘odour of the sheep’, make it real, as shepherds among your flock, fishers of men…
“A good priest can be recognised by the way his people are anointed: this is a clear proof. When our people are anointed with the oil of gladness, it is obvious: for example, when they leave Mass looking as if they have heard good news. Our people like to hear the Gospel preached with ‘unction’, they like it when the Gospel we preach touches their daily lives… ”
All of us need to act on his request to “be close to your priests with affection and with your prayers, that they may always be shepherds according to God’s heart”. During this Holy Year of Mercy, the eight lines in today’s Gospel (John 10:27-30) offer us an opportunity to reflect on the characteristics of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and on whether or not we are hearing/listening to and responding to His voice: “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”
Our faith is a gift from God. In a world in which there are so many ‘voices’ vying for our attention, Christ’s voice is the only one that will lead us to ‘green pastures’. Psalm 23:1 is one of my favourite Psalms: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”. Peter calls Jesus “the shepherd of our souls” (1 Peter 2:25).
What greater gift does humanity have than that of our Shepherd, Jesus, laying down His life for us, thus giving us eternal life? Indeed, we will never be lost if we follow Him.
The logo for the Year of Mercy reminds us that, as the late Cardinal Basil Hume said, Our Lord does not see a crowd; He sees each of us. He knows each of us by name and when we are lost He will not abandon us but will come looking for us. Re-read the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son.
These parables comfort us as we seek to build God’s Kingdom here on earth, because we know that God is never far away; He is with us/among us, guiding us every step of the way.
The challenge is for us to allow Him to mould and shape us into the image of who we really are: children of the living God.
CCSJ welcomes Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Joy of Love, which, inter alia, reflects the importance of mercy and compassion in our Church.
