Acts 2:14, 36-41 / 1 Peter 2:20-25 / John 10:1-10
The general understanding of a religion is that there is a God and the followers of that religion worship that God.
Then comes along the precepts of the religion, like Commandments and regulations.
The reason that people follow a particular religion is because of family traditions, or that they have experienced some goodness of that religion.
As for the Christian faith, it has all the above aspects and maybe even more.
But, as we reflect either on our Christian faith, we will come to see one fundamental and essential aspect.
And that aspect is relationship.
It is the relationship between God and us, and our relationship with one another.
That relationship is profoundly expressed in the Commandment to love God and to love one another.
And as much as God calls us His people, there is also another image that is used to express the relationship between God and us.
And that image is the shepherd and his sheep. That image runs throughout the Bible, in the writings of the prophets, in the Psalms and in the gospels, like in today's Gospel.
And this Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Easter, is also called Good Shepherd Sunday, with an emphasis on vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
So, there is a religious basis to call Jesus our Good Shepherd, and we willingly call ourselves His sheep.
And when we understand the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep, then we will know why that imagery is used.
Out there in the fields and in the pastures, the shepherd is often alone with his sheep.
He knows every one of his sheep, and the unique characteristic of the sheep is that they listen to the shepherd's voice, and only to his voice.
At the end of the day, the shepherd will gather his sheep into a cove-like area, and he will rest at the entrance.
It is an image of an intimate relationship between the shepherd and his sheep, almost like that of a father and his children.
So, we may wonder, how can a sheep go missing and be lost. The reason is that when a sheep is sick, it will not be able to listen clearly, and it will not see clearly as well, so it will not hear the shepherd's voice and lose sight of the flock.
Hence, the urgency of the shepherd to look for that lost sheep before anything tragic happens to it.
As we think about all these on Good Shepherd Sunday, we may come to see that to be a shepherd is a challenging and demanding vocation.
Yes, we pray for those who are preparing for the priesthood to offer themselves in service to God and to His people.
We also pray for those who have answered the call to serve, meaning the priests who are the shepherds of the Church, that they will be faithful and committed to their sacred vocation.
We pray also for ourselves who are God's sheep, that we will listen to the voice of truth and love, and follow the Good Shepherd in the path of salvation.
And we pray that we will also look out for the lost sheep.
For whatever reason that they have left the Church, their deep desire is to come back to God and to the Church.
And may we, the shepherds and the sheep, the priests and the People of God, be the voice, the hands and the feet of the Good Shepherd who will look for those lost sheep.
The world has many other distracting voices, and there are those who want to steal, to kill and to destroy.
We pray that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, will protect the shepherds and the sheep of His Church, and lead us to the pastures of blessings, and to the eternal pastures of the Kingdom of Heaven.