Good Shepherd/Vocation Sunday

Sunday April 21, 2024. 4th Sunday of Easter, Year B

🌻Good Shepherd/Vocation Sunday

White: ⛪ 🌻🌼 📖📤 👑 

📖1st Reading: Acts.4:8-12

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps.118 🎺🎻🎷🎶 (R.v.1) The stone that the builders rejected has become the corner stone.

📖2nd Reading: 1Jn.3:1-2

Alleluia! Alleluai!! 

Jn.10:14

 I am the good shepherd, says the Lord, & mine kw ow me. Alleluia! 

📖Gospel: Jn.10:11-18

Theme: *A shepherd like no other!* 

🎤 Reflection: 

➕Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter addressed the rulers of the people that if they were being examined because of the good done to a cripple & by what means it was done, that all the people should know it was in the name of Jesus of Nazareth they crucified. Jesus was a stone rejected by the  builders that turned into the corner stone. And salvation could only come through Him for there was no other name given among men under heaven that they would be saved except the name of Jesus.

➕Jesus clearly stated in the Gospel that He is the good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. Hirelings take to their heels when they see a wolf & leave the sheep to their fate. The wolf snatches & scatters them. He knows His sheep & His own know Him just as Him & His Father know themselves. He said that He has other sheep that are not of the fold which He must lead for them to heed His voice so that there would be one flock & one Shepherd. His Father loves Him for He lays down His life for His sheep on His own accord. He has power to lay it down & to take it again. 

➕Beloved sheep of the Lord's pasture, shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupation that thrives in agricultural communities around the world. A shepherd is therefore a person who tends, feeds or guards a heed of sheep. He/she is ever committed to the welfare & survival of the flock entrusted to his/her care. While Peter stood boldly before the Sanhedrin to testify that the healing of the crippled was one of the life-saving missions of Jesus the Good Shepherd in the 1st Reading, Jesus declares Himself that true Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep in the Gospel!

➕In delivery his homily on the Good Shepherd on May 3, 2020 at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Chapel of St Martha, Rome, Pope Francis while highlighting the meekness & tenderness of the Good Shepherd added a 3rd characteristic namely; sacrifice. He recounted the sacrifices of many pastors & medical personnel especially doctors & nurses many of whom died while caring for the covid-19 patients as good shepherds. He therefore charged everyone in every profession to wear his/her own garb of the good shepherd, & be ready to sacrifice for those placed under his/her care; for we all are shepherds of some sorts. Apparently, Jesus chooses today the image of a shepherd to drive home a very critical part of His earthly mission because so many shepherds of His time never lived up to the expectations of this life-staking occupation. While a hired shepherd leaves the sheep in moments of danger, a good shepherd shields them from wild animals & other predators.

➕To shepherd is a call to serve selflessly & to even risk one's life for the sake of the sheep. Unfortunately, what we have today in most spheres of our lives be they political, social, religious domestic etc., are mostly wolves in shepherd clothing who care nothing about the sheep, rather concentrate in milking, feeding fat & bleeding them to death. What plays out in our society today is simply an opposite or a satire of what a good shepherd should be. Most of us are guilty considering how we exercise authority in the various leadership positions we occupy. Obviously, whatever we are is not for ourselves; it is for others. It therefore becomes imperative that we commit ourselves caring & uplifting those under our watch through our profession & ministery.

➕Remembering the exemplary lifestyle of a Shepherd like no other, the Church calls us to imitate Him in Peter & John who feared nobody while defending the Person of the Good Shepherd in whose name the crippled healed. In an era whereby almost every hired or inspired shepherd called to serve goes with the ulterior motive of what to take out from the flock, She asks us: 1️⃣What is our interest; service to the people or self aggrandizement? 2️⃣Are we true shepherds in our families, communities, churches & government circles? 3️⃣Do we sacrifice for the sheep or oppress them mindlessly? 4️⃣Do they recognize our voice & do we listen to their concerns? & 5️⃣Do we lead them to greener pastures or devour them to satisfy our greed?

➕Let us learn from Jesus the sacrifice, love & gentility of a Shepherd in our various positions of leadership. We must support in feeding the sheep, & pray to God to raise true shepherds after His heart. We stand to be dispossessed of our flocks if we fail in our responsibilities! We pray also for increase in vocation both in religious & family lives, & for missionaries working in difficult missions. As shepherds therefore, let us watch over the flock entrusted to our care not for sordid money, but because we are eager to do it. May we never be a dictator over them, but an example for all of them to follow. Then when the Chief Shepherd appears, we will be given a crown of unfading glory (1Pt. 5:2-4). 

🙏Let us pray: The Good Shepherd, lead us to greener pasture; do not allow us to be devoured by the beasts of the forest. Amen!

 

🙏We pray for all shepherds, that they may be strengthened to work for the interest of the sheep. May the sheep hear their voice. Amen! 

🙏🏼We also pray for increase in vocation to priestly, religious & family lives, may God raise from among His people men & women of character who will look after the flock well. Amen!

#️⃣DoNotGiveUp

#️⃣ContinueTheStruggle

#️⃣SanitizeINEC 

#️⃣ReformTheJudiciary 

#️⃣EndBadGovernance

😀Happy Good Shepherd Sunday! 

🙌He will shepherd us as His flock!

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