Prior, Fr. Joel Macul, OSB - celebrant
Acts 13:14, 43–52
Revelation 7:9, 14b–17
John 10:27–30
It is only three verses of Jesus that we are given on this Good Shepherd Sunday. These three verses place before us the image of Jesus as Shepherd. So does the reading from Revelation, which speaks of the Lamb Jesus shepherding the faithful and leading them to springs of life-giving water. The image of Jesus as the shepherd is one of the first, if not the first image of Jesus that is depicted in art of some kind. This representation of Jesus is seen even before the crucifix. The image of Jesus carrying the lost sheep on his shoulders may be found in the catacombs of Rome. There we also sometimes see a touch of green in the background to hint at the green pastures of Psalm 23. Surely it is meant to be an image of hope for the community as they lay their dead members to rest. Jesus carries us into the restored paradise, the newly opened garden.
Today Jesus draws our attention to one particular aspect of shepherding, namely the shepherd’s voice. This may strike those of us not familiar with the relationship between sheep and shepherd as a bit different from our usual consoling thoughts of a shepherd’s care. Recently I came across this scenario that might give an insight to the voice of the shepherd. In the state of Gujarat in western India, many shepherds gather their various flocks together at night in one place. This lets the shepherds share night watches and more easily protect the sheep. At daybreak, each shepherd calls his sheep to take them out for watering and then move on. The call of each shepherd is different. When the sheep hear it, they disentangle themselves from the flock and follow the voice of their own shepherd. Now, we should know that sometimes there are as many as 5000 sheep gathered together with the different shepherds. Each shepherd is so familiar with his own sheep and they with him that when the sheep answer his voice, the shepherd can recognize who is weak and who is straggling….It is clear that Jesus wants to put this relationship between shepherd and sheep mediated by the simple voice in front of us today.
The sound of the human voice calling out a name is both powerful and intimate. When we human beings call out to one another by name we are giving voice to a relationship that can send a message of hope and life. We are recognizing another for who they are; we acknowledge them. It is all a whisper of how we came into being in the first place. God spoke and said let us make man and woman in our image. And so it was. A word called us to life; a word called us forth from dust to be the crown of all that the word of God brought into being. Think of Mary Magdalene in the Easter Garden. She was disconsolate at the loss of Jesus and his very body. But Jesus speaks a most personal word to her, “Mary” and she responds right away with recognition, “My Teacher”. Then new life comes to Mary in this simple voice of Jesus. It does not take many words to say a name, to allow another person’s identity to come forward.
Today Jesus is talking about the community of his disciples. He speaks and they respond to his word. In that speaking, he is saying he knows them; there is a relationship between him and the community. It is not a knowing of information, of some detail or fact that he knows; it is a knowing of their hearts. And the community knows him in return. Like Mary Magdalene. We know who it is that is speaking to us. It is not a stranger. It is Jesus.
The relationship of shepherd and sheep that Jesus puts before us today is not about him and some ‘dumb sheep.’ No it is a relationship of reciprocity. Jesus knows the sheep, Jesus knows us and we in turn know him. This bond is as intimate as a husband and wife who have been faithful to one another for years. It has the steadfastness of friends that lasts for decades. Think of human bonds that are faithful in caring, in walking with you no matter what, that listen to one another for hours, that sit in silence and know the oneness between them. That says Jesus is what is happening between him and those who know his voice.
What are we doing at every Eucharist? We are here because we know his voice. We come here, we gather to hear it again and again. His voice feeds us. Yes, we need a sense of direction and we need his voice so as not to get lost, discouraged or burdened by guilt. The voice of the shepherd Jesus is not a shaming voice that beats us down, not a discouraging voice. Jesus’ voice is drawing us together from our various side trips, our solitary wandering and detours. We know Jesus’ voice and we need to hear him. His voice is essential for us. Today we hear many voices, in fact often a cacophony, all clambering for our attention. So we come here because the voice our Shepherd is trustworthy and grounds us. It keeps each of joined together lest we scatter or worse, lest we use words to divide us. Jesus is the familiar voice that summons us back to our common vision, our common hope for life and for the world. Jesus’ words call us back to the Kingdom of God, that network of relationships that binds us together as people of God, that being together where love never ends.
Jesus voice today assures us in strong language, that his relationship with us and ours with him will not allow us to fall out of his hand or the hand of God. They are holding on to us as perhaps we once did with a child or a younger sibling. We held on to a child lest they get lost, so they would not be afraid. And they trusted us. Once we say yes to the voice of our shepherd, his hand reaches out to us, we grasp it and from that moment on the Father and his Shepherd Son will not let us fall.
The power of the Word keeps calling out to us and so we gather; we and all whom the Shepherd led to the waters of baptism. And once gathered we acknowledge the one voice that reaches out to us. We are fed on that word. With the Shepherd’s voice sounding in our ears we can leave here to pasture awhile in this life. But we leave believing that there is always a hand that will not let us go but will be faithful to us until the Father reaches out to wipe away the last tear of this world’s suffering and pain.
The Shepherd is risen, alleluia.
~Prior, Fr. Joel Macul, OSB