Today’s readings in the Catholic church during this Easter season are oftentimes known as “Good Shepherd” Sunday per the selection from sacred scripture. Today is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. We must always remember to pray for our men and women called by God that receive the spiritual call to imitate Jesus as the Divine Shepherd.
In the Gospel passage from John, chapter 10 verses 11-18 Jesus proclaims the following:
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and 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.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”
Oftentimes, as human beings, we are much like sheep. We tend to lose focus of the important aspects of our Christian life and wander off into danger. We let the petty distractions of the world and vainglory dull our senses and higher calling of being an Easter people with eyes always pointed to God and the Parousia or second coming. We are one Christian church despite the many rites, denominations and faith traditions that should always seek the goal of evangelizing others as our primary call. Bringing our fellow “sheep” closer to knowing who our great and awesome God is through the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, should be our ultimate task. Today, as we reflect on the good news, are you like the hired shepherd that wishes to flee and run from danger? Perhaps, we are not ready to have steadfast courage to face the many wolves in our life and possibly lay down our very own life for the “sheep”, or our brothers and sisters in need of His saving mercy in distress or danger? As the first letter from John reminds us, the love that God the Father has bestowed upon us allows us to be called children of God (1 Jn. 3:1). Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will never lead us astray. Those holy men and women that follow the model of our Good Shepherd to find the lost sheep among the wolves and danger should receive our heartfelt prayers and support.
According to the Vatican’s Pontifical Yearbook of 2024 and Statistical Yearbook of 2022 there are more Catholics with fewer vocations. The number of baptized Catholics increased by 1% from 1.376 billion in 2021 to 1.390 billion in 2022. The number of priests globally declined from 407,872 to 407,730. Africa and Asia saw an increase in vocations while the Americas, Europe and Oceania saw declines. Religious communities for men saw a decrease from 49,774 to 49,414. For women religious, there was a 1.6% decrease from 608,958 to 599,228 globally from 2021 to 2022 (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-04/vatican-central-statistical-office-church-pontifical-yearbook.html).
Let us pray for those who work in the Lord’s harvest, that they may fully imitate our Good Shepherd, who brings life to others in a troubled world. Let us examine our own Christian worldview and take up our mission to not only serve others, but to boldly and courageously defend ourselves and others from the wolves that distract us from our mission. May we bring our brothers and sisters closer to knowing Him through our very actions, words and deeds this day for Jesus is our Good Shepherd.
Pray for all priests that they may receive God’s grace to be good and holy priests. Pray for those discerning a vocation to the priesthood and religious life. Sometimes we may not like certain priests at a parish – have you prayed for them lately or provided words of encouragement? According to a study conducted by the Catholic Project at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC regarding burnout, “the report says that 45% of priests surveyed reported at least one symptom of ministry burnout, unevenly distributed between diocesan (50%) and religious (33%) priests. Only 9% exhibited severe burnout, the report says, but the report’s authors cautioned that younger priests were significantly more likely than older priests to experience burnout.” (https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252588/major-survey-of-catholic-priests-finds-trust-issues-burnout-fear-of-false-allegations).
One of the prayers we should recite that is attributed to Saint John Vianney, the patron of parish priests, is the following retrieved from (https://www.sjvcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Saint-John-Vianney-Prayers.pdf):
Prayer for Priests by Saint John Vianney
God please give your Church today many more priests after your own heart. May they be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd.
May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance;
Being examples of humility and poverty;
Shining models of holiness;
Tireless and powerful preachers of the Word of God;
Zealous dispensers of your grace in the sacraments.
May their loving devotion to your Son Jesus in the Eucharist and to Mary his Mother Be the twin fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry.
Amen.
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