029 Good Shepard Sunday

Readings

Cycle B  Good Shepherd Sunday

Second Reading: 1 John 3: 1-2

Frist Reading: Acts 4:8-12

Gospel: John 10: 11-18

Psalm: Psalm 118: 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28-29

Homily Theme

The Good Shepherd

This week, the Church celebrates Good Shepherd Sunday so let me invite you to meditate on a simple question: Who is your Shepherd? True Christians should be able to answer without hesitation that it is Jesus. Psalm 23 is very familiar to most people, even those who do not attend church. Those who do attend, have no problem singing or saying, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd.’ Will just reciting the words, without giving full consent to the meaning of those words be sufficient to qualify us as l Christians? No, not if we don’t allow Jesus to lead us. All Evangelical Christians will immediately respond, Amen!!

Many people were very upset when President Obama said abroad, that America is no longer a Christian Country. Is it? How many people still gather to worship God on Sundays? According to recent polls it is less than 30 percent. If they do not worship the Lord on His Day, is it a Christian Nation? Who is the Shepherd that leads the majority? To be a Christian one must worship Christ and hear his Word for Him to be their Shepherd. Who influences your life and beliefs? Who really leads you?

What about those of us who claim to be Catholic Christians? How do we allow Jesus to be our Shepherd? It must be more than just saying I am Catholic. In the first reading today, we listen to the Spirit filled words of Peter, the first Pope appointed by our Jesus our Shepherd. Remember when Jesus told Peter to feed His Sheep and lambs and recall when He gave him the Keys of the Kingdom, to bind and to loose on earth. To be Catholic one must believe Jesus speaks through the successors of Peter to whom He gave those Keys of the Kingdom. Are the newscasters your shepherds? They are not mine. Don’t let others lead you astray. If you and I are not listening to the chosen successor of Peter believing that He speaks with the authority of Jesus the Good Shepherd, then we are not letting Jesus lead us. Remember He Knows His sheep and His Sheep know Him

Jesus tells us today in the Gospel, that He is the Good Shepherd and that He lays down his life for His sheep. He has other sheep that don’t belong to the flock but He will bring them in and there will be one Shepherd and one Fold. Think about those words and ponder them. Who do you know other than Jesus that would die a painful death for you on a cross so that you and I can live forever in heaven with Him? That is why we have a crucifix in our homes so that we can look upon it and see the outstretched hands of Jesus nailed to the wood. Hear Him say to you as you do so, I love you this much with nails in. Spend some time with him in prayer this week and renew your love for Him. Pray for the lost sheep in your family so that He may find them and bring them safely home again. He will for He loves them more than we do.