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Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary-
Homilies |
"The Priest: A Shepherd
after the Heart of the Good Shepherd"
Homily for
the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Fr. Jonathan L. Reardon
15 May 2011
Year A
On his way to his new
assignment, St. John Vianney stopped a young boy to ask for
directions. He said to the boy: “show me the way to Ars and I
will show you the way to heaven.” This encounter with the saint
is memorialized with a statue just up the road from the small
church in Ars where St. John ministered for the majority of his
priesthood.
Reflecting upon the nature of the priesthood on this World Day
of Prayer for Vocations, I’m reminded also, of a story that a
priest once told me about a shepherd in Israel. This priest
frequently leads pilgrimages to the Holy Land and in his many
travels became friendly with an old shepherd whose field was
very near the Basilica of the Nativity in Nazareth. On one such
pilgrimage, while the pilgrims were off shopping and walking
around the church, Father went to see his friend. At this point
the shepherd had reached an old age. Father commented on this
fact: “you’re still out here tending the sheep?” The old
shepherd replied to him: “I have to. My grandson is over there,
under the tree. Watch, I will show why I am here.” The old
shepherd called his grandson over and told him to gather the
sheep. The young boy complied and he started to call them but
the sheep would not come. The old shepherd then sent him away
and called the sheep himself. “You see,” he told Father, “the
sheep do not know him and he does not care and they will not
come to him. So, you see, I have to be here because I cannot
abandon my sheep.”
Jesus, in our Gospel reading, shows Himself to be not just any
shepherd but the Good Shepherd. The One who cares, protects, and
leads His sheep. He highlights that which has been said about
the young shepherd in Israel – the sheep will not listen to the
voice of a stranger; they will run from him. But the sheep hear
the voice of the shepherd; they know him and follow him. Coming
to Jesus in our lives – in heart, mind, word and deed – we are
lead to that life that He promises, the divine life that He
bestows upon us through the sacraments.
It is in this we recognize the continuous mission of the savior
in the shepherds He has left us in His priests. It is the duty
of the priest to administer the sacraments of the Church to
God’s faithful people. Thus, he leads them, helps them hear the
voice of the shepherd and brings them to that divine life Christ
wishes to bestow upon us all. His job, therefore, is to teach,
govern and sanctify.
We see this aspect of the life of the priest exemplified so
beautifully in our first reading. After the Apostles received
the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, they went to the Temple to
give thanks, and the presence of the Holy Spirit attracted
crowds of awestruck pilgrims. Peter stood up and addressed them.
He told them about Christ. And St. Luke reported that, “they
were cut to the heart.” These were the same people who had
rejected Jesus just a few weeks earlier. But now the mere
mention of his name “cuts them to the heart.” Hearing the truth
about Christ made them want to follow Him. But they didn't know
how. And so they asked, “What are we to do?” Peter showed them
the way to Christ, through repentance and baptism – by
administering the sacraments to them. As a true shepherd after
the Heart of Christ, Peter guided those who have heard the voice
of Truth to the promise that Jesus made in the Gospel – to His
divine life; the life of grace within.
Of particular importance is the fact that the grace of God
didn't reach those three thousand people directly. It reached
them, inspired them, changed them, and renewed their very lives,
through the mediation of the Apostles, through the preaching,
witnessing, and ministry of Christ's chosen messengers. The Acts
of the Apostles shows us how God works through messengers;
through His priests.
Thus, in his ministry, the priest is more than just a
representative of Christ, more than an administrator. By virtue
of his ordination, the priest becomes an image of Christ Himself
– in spite of his weaknesses and failures. Christ bestows upon
an ordained man the likeness of His very Self – we call this an
ontological change in the soul of a priest. It is the Holy
Spirit that speaks and acts through His minister. Therefore, to
draw near to our priests, to seek their counsel, direction and
blessing is to approach Christ. It is to be shepherded by Him.
Jesus describes Himself in the Gospel as the gate for the sheep.
The destination to which He leads us is to our heavenly home –
to His very Heart. Today, may we have the courage to pray for
our shepherds and pray that on this World Day of Prayer for
Vocations, Christ will raise up for us from this parish more
shepherds – co-workers in His vineyard – for these are the ones
that God has given to us in order that we may be able to hear
the voice of the Good Shepherd and come to know the way to
heaven.
