Homily

The Church dedicates this Sunday, called the Sunday of the Good Shepherd, to the prayer and reflection for priestly and religious vocation. At the centre of the liturgy of the Word there is the passionate speech in which Jesus, while debating with the leading class of Israel, presents himself as the "good shepherd", the one who gathers and leads his sheep to the point of offering his life for their salvation. And he adds, "The one who does not lay down his life for his sheep is not a shepherd but rather a hired hand." The opposition between the shepherd and the hired hand rises from the following motivation: the shepherd does his job for the sake of love and gives up his own interest even at the cost of his own life, while the hired hand acts out of personal interest or money; therefore it is obvious that in the moment of danger he will abandon the sheep to their destiny. In order to indicate danger, the evangelist uses the image of the wolf that "snatches and scatters" the sheep. It is a very harsh attack to the Pharisees who are accused of "feeding yourselves ... and not the sheep" (Ez 34:2), while Jesus came to "gather into one the dispersed children of God" (Jn 11:52).
At a glance, the work of the wolf fits the attitude of the hired hand. Both care only about their return, their satisfaction, their income and not about the sheep. The result is a kind of diabolic plot of the indifferent and the selfish against the weak and the defenceless. If we think of the vast number of people who have lost the meaning of their lives and wander without any goal; if we look at the millions of refugees who leave their lands and dear ones seeking a better life and yet nobody cares about them; if we look at the youth scattered and in search of happiness and yet no one is there to point it out to them; unfortunately we need to acknowledge the sad and cruel alliance between wolves and hired hands, between the indifferent and those who try to gain personal advantages from this dispersion. The prophet Ezekiel writes: "My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them" (Ez 34:6).
The Lord Jesus comes, and with great authority says: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Not only did he say it, he also showed it with his life, especially in the days of the Holy Week, when he loved his friends till the end, till shedding his blood. Yes, finally the one who breaks the sad and bitter alliance between the wolf and the hired hand, between self-interest and disinterest for others, has arrived among the people. Those who need comfort and help now know to whom they can turn, they know where to knock, they know where to move their eyes and hearts. Jesus himself said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (Jn 12:32) In the end the entire Gospel speaks about this link between the desperate, abandoned, exhausted, shepherd-less crowds and Jesus, who is moved in front of them: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?"(Lk 15:4), says the Lord. The following sentence is attributed to St. Charles Borromeo: "I would go even to hell to save one soul, even only one." This is the soul of a pastor: to go as far as hell, that is down to the lowest level, in order to save one person. In this perspective we can also understand Jesus’ "descent into hell" on the Holy Saturday. We could say that not even in death did Jesus think about himself. As a good shepherd he went to look for those who were lost, those who were and are forgotten, those who were and are in the hells of this world that evil and people have created.
The Gospel seems to say that we are either shepherds in this way, or else we cannot be but hired hands. It is true only Jesus is the "good shepherd": either we follow him or we betray his very mission. We know well that we are inadequate and that it is his Spirit poured in our hearts that transforms us so that we may have "the same mind that was in Christ Jesus"(Phil 2:5). Today’s Gospel - as this Sunday suggests - is first of all for those who have "pastoral" responsibilities in the Church, especially bishops and priests. It is proper, even dutiful, and not only today, to pray that the "pastors" may resemble Jesus more and more as true and only "good shepherd." It is also urgent to intensify our prayer so that the Lord may give to his Church young men who will listen to the invitation to be "shepherds" according to his heart and his passion of love.
However, each Christian community is called to look at the abundance of the "harvest" and the lack of "workers." We could say that there is a "pastoral" responsibility of all believers, not only the priests. Each disciple is, at the same time, a member of the Lord’s flock and also, in his or her way, a pastor who is responsible for his brothers and sisters, for his and her neighbours. The pastoral responsibility of each believer appears in many other pages of the Scriptures - since the very beginning of humanity when God asked Cain of his brother. And Cain’s answer was not at all exemplary: "Am I my brother’s keeper?" Yes, Cain was Abel’s keeper (and in this sense we can say that he was his pastor). And all believers should be this for their neighbours. Prayer, so that there may be those who in the Christian community listen to the Lord’s call to serve the Church in the ordained ministry, is part of the spirituality of each believer and each Christian community. But it is from a ground full of "pastoral attitude", that is from believers who care about others, that today "pastors" may grow. A passionate community generates pastors. The good shepherd is not a hero; he is one who loves, and love always leads us where we would not otherwise dream to go.
Love involves the very concerns of the Lord: "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." God’s love makes our hearts tender: we become able to be moved by those who wander in our cities looking for a harbour, those who do not know where to find comfort, the millions of desperate people who cover the face of the earth, that man or woman, far or close, who waits for consolation and does not find it. Matthew writes, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." And right afterwards the evangelist adds: "Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest." (Mt 9:37-38). The entire Christian community is united to the Lord Jesus, who is still moved by the crowds of this world. With him the Christian community prays so that the workers for the vineyard of the Lord may not be lacking. At the same time, each believer, in front of God and in front of "the fields that are ripe for harvesting" (Jn 4:35) should say with the prophet: "Here am I; send me!" (Is 6:8).