Fr Marco Lazzaron
very year, on the fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church invites us to look at Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The oldest representations of Jesus in the catacombs portray him in the guise of a shepherd carrying the “lost” and then “found” sheep on his shoulders.
To understand the importance of the theme of the shepherd in the Bible, we must go back in time when the people of Israel were nomadic shepherds. In that society, the relationship between shepherd and flock was not only economic or based on interest but there was a personal relationship between the shepherd and the flock because of the long time spent together in solitary places. The shepherd would know everything about every sheep and vice versa, the sheep would recognize and distinguish the voice of the shepherd from any other human being. It is like a little toddler who can recognize the voice of the mother among many others. It is like a mother who sits in the park reading a book but with the corner of the eye she carefully looks after the children in the playground. This explains why Jesus used this symbol to express his relationship with humanity.
One of the most evident phenomena of our society is massification: the press, television, the internet, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, are called “mass media”, not only because they inform the masses, but also because they form them, create them, and standardize them. Without us realizing it, we let ourselves be guided by all sorts of manipulation and persuasion, creating models of well-being, behavior, and ideals; the consequence is that we allow ourselves to be guided in our choices by “this is what everyone does”.
Well, belonging to the flock of Jesus means not falling into massification. The Gospel does not promise to change the current “mass” society. The purpose of the Gospel is to be inspired by the word of Christ which is “this is how Jesus does it”.
However, Jesus’ gaze does not stop at his little flock but also turns to the sheep who are not yet following him. His mission will be to “gather together the children of God who are scattered”. Jesus will reveal himself as the slaughtered lamb, who gave his life, and for this was raised and glorified by the Father. Yes, precisely as a lamb Jesus came to be a shepherd!
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we ask almighty and merciful God to send holy priests into his harvest, who announce not only with words but above all with deeds, the message of love of the supreme and Good Shepherd, Christ Jesus, our only hope and salvation. Amen.