To listen to this homily, go to 23:30 of the Livestream here.
This weekend the Church celebrates the fourth Sunday of Easter, often called "Good Shepherd Sunday." This nickname is given because every year, the 4th Sunday of Easter highlights the passages in the gospel where Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd and his followers as his Sheep. The shepherd analogy has been used long before the coming of Christ. The Greek poet Homer used the image to describe the hero of the Iliad and the Egyptian Pharaohs have been depicted in exactly the same way, watching over their people with care and concern. For thousands of years, people have known the devotion and selfless concern a good shepherd has for his flock and this behavior is seen as the ideal for any leader to strive for.
As Christians, we believe Christ fulfilled the role of Good Shepherd perfectly in every way. He laid down his life for his sheep, he led and continues to lead them to abundant pastures and gives them the food of eternal life in the gift of the Eucharist. That Christ is the Good Shepherd is not in question; because of that, let's take a closer look, not at the shepherd, but at the sheep, specifically at why do they wander when they have such an indisputably perfect protector watching over them?
I believe there are three basic reasons that account for every lost sheep out there.
The first and least common reason for why we wander from God and run away from the path of life is that we are psychopathic. In this condition, we recognize good and evil, right and wrong, and we have have made a deliberate choice to embrace evil as our goal. In this state, a person is fundamentally changed for the worse and whatever is good, pure, innocent, and gentle becomes repulsive and even offensive. The more someone or something reflects the image of God, the further away this particular sheep runs. Such a person is marked by a deep cynicism, anger, and lack of joy.
The second, and perhaps most common, reason for wandering away from God is that we place some basic good above God. We try to find happiness, safety, and fulfillment in things like wealth, pleasure, power, or success and it separates us from God. We sincerely believe once we achieve these things, we will be happy and satisfied. But no matter what we have, fulfillment is just out of reach, new problems rise up, and we find ourselves frustrated and chasing the “next best thing”. In most of these cases, we are taking a gift from God, something that is fundamentally good, but we are trying to have it in the wrong way, at the wrong time, or without moderation. We are making something good into a god. An example might make more sense. Many of us have played sports at some point in our life. Sports are good and teach us teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, and many other virtues. But if my playing sports begins to crowd out doing my homework, spending time with family, or going to Sunday Mass, then it has become disordered and a source of separation from the shepherd and his flock. A person wandering for this reason is a generally good person who experiences mysterious sadness, boredom, and frustration. They will sometimes question why they are unhappy. They will also find themselves both intrigued and irritated at times by Jesus and the teachings of his Church.
Last of all, is the person who has wandered away from Christ the Good Shepherd and knows they have made a mistake. They thought the grass was greener on the other side and now they realize that’s not the case. They realize the pastures they pursued cannot fulfill them or make them happy. Intellectually, instinctively, they sense the good as it really is, they see where and how Christ is calling them back. But they aren’t quite ready to return. They stay lost and apart, not because they believe where they are is good. No, they stay lost because they feel like the price of being found and returned to the flock is a little too high, Perhaps, there is part of them that wonders if Jesus can fully make them happy. Such sheep tend to emphasize the happy moments of sin and forget the heartbreak and separation that accompanies it. Other roadblocks at this stage include the humbling experiences of apologizing, admitting one was wrong, and the messy business of reconciliation. Some might even believe that God couldn’t possibly forgive their past or want them back. A person separated from Jesus in this stage, is very close to returning! They think about it often but are afflicted with a sort of spiritual procrastination. There is always an excuse that gets in the way of letting the Good Shepherd scoop them up and bring them home. They can hear his voice calling for them and with the right encouragement or a personal invitation from a trusted family member or compassionate friend, they will often take that final step!
With these reasons for wandering in mind and acknowledging that many of us have been separated from the Lord at various points of our lives, listen again to the words of our gospel, “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me. I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
Jesus will stop at nothing to bring each and every one of us back. He does not want multiple flocks and he does not accept the notion that some will just have to be lost. He values every single soul. As we prepare to enter into the liturgy of the Eucharist, pause for a moment, close your eyes, and sense his presence in this place...Take comfort in knowing that God knows where we are and will answer our call... He knows each of us by name and is ready to give us all we need...Jesus is the good shepherd, who lays down his life for us; there is nothing that you and I shall want if we cease wandering, follow him, and trust in his care.
