Am I a Good Shepherd or a Hired Man?
“O Lord, how great are your works! How deep are your designs! The foolish man cannot know this and the fool cannot understand.” (Ps 91) In Easter we celebrate the greatest event that was ever heard: the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his triumph over death.
As St. Paul said, “The crucified Christ is to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness.” (1 Cor 1:23) For those who have no faith and understanding, they think Jesus was stupid for not running away when the soldiers came to arrest him in the garden of Gethsemane; they think Jesus was a fool for allowing others to torture him without hitting back; they look upon the crucified Jesus as a failure. Yet Jesus put his total trust in God the Father, believing that he will be glorified in the end.
In the past few months, our Holy Father is going through a lot of challenges, the accusations of the media about him covering up the sexual abuses by the clergy, the reaction of the Jews against the church sparked by Fr. Cantalamessa’s Good Friday homily, and the reactions sparked by Cardinal Bertone’s comment linking homosexuality and pedophilia. As chief shepherd and guardian of the church, the Holy Father carries the burden of the whole church.
For those who have no faith, they may not understand why the Pope needs to go through and suffer all these, and why does he not just resign and leave. As entrusted by Jesus to look after his sheep (Jn 21:17) and to be the rock on which he would build his church and the gates of the underworld can never overpower it (Mt 16:18), the Holy Father places his trust in the promise of Jesus, and like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, he does not run away but lays down his life for his sheep when the wolf attacks (Jn 10:11).
Our Holy Father lives out the exaltation of St. Paul, “If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we dies, it is for the Lord that we die.” (Rom 14:8) Our Pope remains in his office and lives through all these difficulties because of Jesus. He dies to himself because of Jesus.
As workers in God’s vineyard and being among the sheepfold, be it as priests, religious or laity, what are our responses when we face difficulties in living out the Gospel and serving God and others in and through our pastoral activities? Do we imitate Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd or do we run away like the hired man?
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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Samuel Lim on 19th Apr 2010.
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