Each of us is called to lead others to the gracious mercy of God.

The Gospels for the eight Sundays from Easter to Pentecost form a wonderfully cohesive progression from Jesus’ Resurrection to our taking up Jesus’ mission to preach the Gospel.  The first three Sundays of Easter always feature appearance accounts of the Risen Lord.  This fourth Sunday we are invited to reflect on Jesus’ great love and care for us and be assured that we will not be abandoned.  Jesus will be with us always.  On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we begin our mission of discipleship as we move into the second half of the Easter season and our preparation for the celebration of the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Today, we hear the words of the Good Shepherd:  “I am the good Shepherd.  I know mine and mine know me.  I will lay down my life for the sheep.”  The same Eternal Word that became flesh in Jesus longs to become flesh in our lives --  in our home, workplace, parish, global marketplace.  Indeed, there is no shortage of need for compassionate people who continue Jesus’ mission.

Our spirituality is not primarily about keeping the rules.  Our spirituality is primarily about relationships  --  our relationship with God and our relationships with one another.  Yes, there are rules to be kept – no doubt about that.  But more than that, the imagery of Jesus as the Good Shepherd reveals the depth of intimacy that the Lord Jesus has for each of us.

The Shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  The sheep follow him because they do not follow the voice of strangers.  What are the voices in your life in which you are safe and very much loved?  How well do we recognize the voice of Jesus in our life?

I pray that you are clearly able to identify the voices of your life in which you are safe and very much loved?  Who in your family speaks words of unconditional love to you?  Treasure and value very highly the people you love and the people who love you?  Who in our faith community speak words to you to assure you that you are safe and very much loved?  We are to the witnesses to each other of God’s unconditional love.

Today is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  All of us have a vocational story to share.  Vocation comes from the Latin vocare  “to call.”  Our vocation is our response to the call of God in our lives.  By Baptism, God calls all of us to be disciples, to be witnesses of God’s presence in our world.  There are to be as many disciples, as many stewards in this parish as there are baptized parishioners.  For us to have an appreciation gathering for our parish stewards, we would not only need the entire restaurant at Shadow Lake; we would need the entire golf course.  The vision we seek for our parish faith community is immersed in the mystery of God’s love for us as the Good Shepherd of our lives. We seek to be the witnesses, the icons of God’s love for each other.

As we celebrate this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, may we encourage some young men in our parish community to consider the call to the ordained priesthood.  To be a leader of our faith community as a priest is a call from God I invite you to pay attention to.  The Church needs people to respond to call to the ordained ministry as a deacon and as a priest.

May our prayer be that we seek the grace of the Good Shepherd.  Each of us is called to lead others to the gracious mercy of God.  Like the shepherds, we do not do this by herding or forcing people along.  We seek to live lives of such self-evident joy that others can trust that we are leading them in the path of life eternal.

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, give us the grace we need to gently lead others to become more aware of our love and of God’s love for them.