Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd and says we are to do likewise -- we are to be for others in the ways we serve and love. Pope Francis is a wonderful example to us of how we are called to be Good Shepherds. Pope Francis says we should smell like the sheep. We are to immerse ourselves in the mud of human failures, human sins, and human problems. Only after we know the stuff of people's lives are we qualified to offer solutions that matter.
Have you ever wondered what kind of mother Pope Francis had? I can only imagine how she loved Pope Francis into life, and in loving him gave him the capacity to love others. I can imagine how she taught him how to pray, to be kind, and to love.
On this Mother's Day, we are grateful to the mothers of our parish community for how you have responded to the vocational call of Jesus the Good Shepherd to love and to form your children. Like each of us, I am most grateful to my own mother for teaching me how to pray.
This is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. I had the great privilege of serving for ten years as our diocesan director of seminarians; and for five years previous to this, to being the spiritual director and the rector of Becket Hall -- the discernment community for young men considering the call of God to the priesthood. This has been a treasured part of my priestly ministry. May St. Joseph's faith community encourage, pray, and support young men from our parish to consider the call of God to ordained ministry.
I also would invite you to look at this Vocations Day with a wider lens. The truth is all of us have a vocational story to share. We are to pray that each and every one of us claim our vocational call from God. We are grateful in our parish community for the members of our parish staff who have responded generously to the call to lay ecclesial ministry. The parish would not exist without the generosity and the faith of our lay ecclesial ministers.
We are grateful for parishioners who have responded to the call of God to be catechists, to be engaged in youth ministry, pastoral care, social outreach,and parish governance.
My message is all of us have a vocational story to share. We pray that God's call is heard and responded to by each member of our parish community.
May we pray today for the grace to recognize the call of Jesus the Good Shepherd of our lives.
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