Fr. Emmanuel ADEBISI

 

Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A. It is called Good Shepherd Sunday. It is also known as Vocations Sunday. Jesus says: _“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”- Jn 10:11. Jesus doesn’t just teach about shepherding, He lives it. He knows His sheep, calls them by name, feeds them, and defends them even at the cost of His life.

The call today is simple but demanding: *Be a Good Shepherd.* Not just Priests and Bishops, but every one of us. A shepherd is anyone God has entrusted with people to guide, protect, and love. So how do we live this? Let us look at four places we’re called to shepherd.

 

*1. As a Father: The Shepherd Who Provides and Protects* 

A father shepherds first by presence. The good shepherd does not run when the wolf comes Jn 10:12. In the home, the “wolves” are fear, addiction, bad company, or despair. A father shepherds when he comes home instead of staying out, when he listens before he lectures, when he prays with his children even if his voice shakes. St. Joseph didn’t preach. He protected Mary and Jesus by getting up in the night and moving to Egypt. Sometimes being a good shepherd means losing sleep so your family can sleep in peace. Provide for them, yes. But more than food, give them security: “You are safe with me, because I am with God.” Ask yourself, Am I a good shepherd?

 

*2. As a Mother: The Shepherd Who Knows and Nourishes* 

Jesus says, -“I know my sheep and mine know me”- Jn 10:14. No one knows a child’s cry like a mother. She hears hunger, sickness, or fear in a sound others ignore. That’s shepherding. A mother shepherds when she feeds not only the body but the soul. The Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4 refused to leave Elisha until her son lived again. She knew where life came from and she went for it. Mothers, you shepherd when you teach prayer before bedtime, when you correct with love instead of anger, when you let your child see you forgive. The world tells mothers to “find yourself.” The Gospel says, “lay down your life” and in that doing, you find it. Your kitchen table can be an altar where children learn they are known and loved.

 

*3. As an Elder Brother or Sister: The Shepherd Who Guides and Guards* 

The older ones in the family set the pace. Your younger siblings watch how you speak to parents, how you handle failure, what you do when no one is looking. Jesus, the firstborn among many brothers Rom 8:29, walked ahead of us into death and resurrection so we would not be afraid. An elder brother shepherds when he says, “Don’t follow that crowd, follow me,” and then walks the right way himself. You guard them when you refuse to introduce them to sin under the excuse of “experience.” You guide them when you say sorry first after a fight. Shepherding isn’t dominance. It’s saying with your life: “I’ll go first, and I won’t let you be lost.”

 

*4. As Leadership in the Church: The Shepherd Who Serves and Sacrifices* 

Peter was told three times: -“Feed my lambs… Tend my sheep… Feed my sheep”- Jn 21:15-17. Church leaders don’t own the sheep. They belong to Christ. So the test of good shepherding is not control, but sacrifice. A good catechist prepares the children to meet Jesus, not just information. A choir leader arrives early so the assembly can pray, not perform. A parish priest knows the smell of his sheep, their joys, their sickrooms, their doubts. Pope Francis says shepherds should be in front to lead, in the middle to be with, and behind to pick up the stragglers. Leadership that costs nothing heals nothing. The Church doesn’t need CEOs. She needs shepherds with wounded hands.

 

We can only shepherd because we are first sheep. All of us stand behind Jesus, the gate Jn 10:7. He found us when we were lost. He still carries us when we are tired. So today, ask Him: “Lord, where have You placed me as a Shepherd?” In your home, your street, your Church, someone is waiting for a voice they know, for protection, for food that lasts. The world is full of hired hands who run. Easter tells us the Good Shepherd stayed. He rose. And He sends us now to do the same. Let us be good shepherds, because we have the best Shepherd. Amen.