The first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles starts in a very dramatic manner: “Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter said: ‘Rulers of the people, and elders! If you are questioning us today about an act of kindness to a cripple, asking us how he was healed, then I am glad to tell you all, and would indeed be glad to tell the whole people of Israel, that it was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you crucified, whom God raised from the dead…’”
This, of course, is what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit who gives us the joy of the Gospel, to proclaim it without fear, that those held in captive are liberated. Peter, has the privilege of explaining such mystery and amazing grace that has lifted him up from an ordinary fisherman, to become an agent of the Good News of the salvation of the whole world. He who was so afraid that he denied Jesus three times is now bold enough to acknowledge and confess him as the risen Lord. Thanks to the gift of Jesus, who has made this a reality. He is the stone which the builders rejected, which has become the corner stone.
Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd. He does not rely on human approval or recommendation – he knows who he is – The Good Shepherd. St John’s core understanding of the good shepherd is that he is the very one who lays down his life for his sheep. In other words, apart from the other great qualities of the good shepherd like caring with great tenderness; voice identification and connection between the sheep and the shepherd; knowledge of the sheep; feeding and nurturing, sacrifice is the ultimate price which the good shepherd pays which is unrivalled by any other shepherd with great qualities. Can you love the sheep to the point of laying down your life for them as Jesus did? That is the core of this gospel message. This sacrifice is what we still celebrate at this Eastertide.
Sacrifice is not possible without the love which such self-giving expresses. In the First Letter of St John he tells us to think of the Love which the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called his children; and that is what we are. (Indeed, we are his children, the sheep of his flock). Love of Christ urges us; it is that driving force for our words and actions in Evangelization, as St Paul tells us.
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, Christ appeals to us as individuals and as a community to think of the sacrifice of the Cross and respond with generosity. In times like this when in some parts of the world, the Church struggles with the number of vocations to the priesthood and Religious life, God appeals to us to respond to the sacrifice of the cross with that same joy with which Peter and other disciples were filled after the resurrection. The question is: what if the Good shepherd is calling you to help in the ministry to care and support those in real need of the gospel? Such people are no longer far away in a distant land; they are our next door neighbours.
