Acts 13:14, 43-52/ Apocalypse 7:9, 14-17/ John 10:27-30
One of the easiest presents to give a child is a stuffed toy.
Children love stuffed toys and one of the most popular stuffed toy is the teddy bear.
But of course there are other stuffed toys that take on animal shapes, like for example, Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, Pink Panther, Ninja Turtle.
Children generally love these soft stuffed toys because they can become imaginary playmates and they can also cuddle them to sleep.
Well, not only children love stuffed toys. Adults love them too, and some even have a collection of soft toys. After all there is a child in all of us.
But as much as we love animals, we only want to cuddle them when they come in the form of a stuffed toy. The real thing, as in the real animal, is just too much to handle.
Just imagine trying to cuddle a real tiger to sleep. I wish you a good night and sweet dreams.
Another soft toy that can be seen in Catholic and Christian bookshops is a stuffed toy lamb, and it holds a little banner with the words: The Lord is my shepherd.
It is a really cute toy, especially since it is white and soft and fluffy. It’s so cute.
And that is very often our popular and romantic idea of lambs and sheep – they are white, soft and fluffy and cute.
Oh yes we like our lambs and sheep to be white and soft and fluffy and cute as well.
But the reality is very different, especially if we had been near a flock of sheep.
As like the other animals, sheep have a smell. Not that they are smelly, but it’s just that peculiar unwashed smell.
We wouldn’t really want to cuddle a real lamb or sheep to sleep.
And unlike the pictures of Jesus with a lamb on His shoulders, we would at most pat the lamb, and nothing more.
Yet, Jesus calls us His sheep, and with that He also calls Himself the Good Shepherd.
And even our idea of the shepherd is a popular and romantic one that we see in pictures.
But pictures don’t give out any smell. A real shepherd would have a smell, and it’s none other than the smell of the sheep.
And like the sheep that he is always with, he would also have the smell of that peculiar unwashed sheep smell; and he is not someone we would want at our dining table. (Lamb chops – yes; sheep and shepherd – no!)
Even during the time of Jesus, shepherds were regarded as religiously unclean, obviously because of their peculiar smell.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Yet He is also the Lamb of God. So He not only looks like the sheep, He also smells like the sheep.
The 4th Sunday of Easter is also called “Vocation Sunday”.
The word “vocation” has its root in the Latin word “vocare” which means “to call”.
Jesus the Good Shepherd calls out to us. And if we are His sheep, we will be listening to Him and we will also follow Him.
And Jesus said in the gospel : I know my sheep and they follow me.
I give them eternal life and they will never be lost. And no one will ever steal them from me.
Vocation Sunday can also be called “Listening Sunday”, because Jesus the Good Shepherd calls out to us to follow Him.
Yet the call of Jesus also goes further and deeper to those for whom He has a particular calling.
Vocation Sunday focuses on the call to the priesthood.
It is for those young men who are thinking of the priesthood because the call of Jesus has stirred their hearts.
It is for the seminarians in the major seminary undergoing training for the priesthood, that they keep listening to the call.
Last but certainly not the least, it is for priests who have heard the call, answered the call, and to remain faithful to the call.
So whether they are thinking about the priesthood, studying for the priesthood, or serving in the priesthood, the call of Jesus is to be shepherds who have the heart of the Good Shepherd.
Pope Francis in his Chrism Mass homily has this to say to those who are shepherds or preparing to be shepherds of God’s flock.
He said that priests are to bring the healing power of God’s grace to everyone in need, to be close to the oppressed, and to be “shepherds living with the smell of the sheep”.
Yes, God’s flock is not a collection of stuffed toy lambs and sheep that look soft and white and cute and cuddly.
God’s flock, God’s people, have the underlying hope and desire for divine comfort and healing and protection, so that our souls can become white as wool and a pure offering to God.
And more so for God’s priests. We priests are reminded that if we really want to serve God’s people, then we have to be like the shepherds living with the smell of the sheep.
We priests cannot think of God’s people as a collection of stuffed toys that look clean and soft and fluffy and cute and cuddly.
God’s people are like a flock of sheep that needs protection and healing.
God’s people are like a flock of sheep that hunger and thirsts for none other than the living God.
So humbly I ask you, my dear people of God, to pray for us priests that we will lead you to hear the voice of Jesus and to follow Him to the green pastures of eternal life.
Yes, pray for us priests and pray for those who are preparing for the priesthood and for those who are thinking about the priesthood.
May we lead you to believe this, which is taken from Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want”.
Yes, with the Lord as our shepherd, there is indeed nothing we shall ever want.
All we want is to listen to Him and follow Him.