SHEPHERDS IN THE CHURCH

May 21, Friday

 

SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER

 

Many today refuse to accept the shepherd image which God attributes to himself (for example, Ez 24), which Christ claims for himself and which he gave to the apostles. Are the faithful no more than a docile sheep? Are the pope, bishops and priests who “dominate in the name of truth, repress in the name of morality, and keep ‘the flock’ infantile in the name of God’s goodness?” (Bernard Feuillet, Journal de la Vie 78, p. 25) Not if they understand their mission of service and self-giving. Not if they are shepherds in Christ’s way. Not if they are agents and centers of unity for their people.

 

First Reading: Acts 25:13-21

A few days later King Agrippa and his wife, Bernice, visited Caesarea to welcome Festus to his new post. After several days, Festus brought up Paul’s case to the king. “I have a man on my hands here, a prisoner left by Felix. When I was in Jerusalem, the high priests and Jewish leaders brought a bunch of accusations against him and wanted me to sentence him to death. I told them that wasn’t the way we Romans did things. Just because a man is accused, we don’t throw him out to the dogs. We make sure the accused has a chance to face his accusers and defend himself of the charges. So when they came down here I got right on the case. I took my place in the courtroom and put the man on the stand.

“The accusers came at him from all sides, but their accusations turned out to be nothing more than arguments about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who the prisoner claimed was alive. Since I’m a newcomer here and don’t understand everything involved in cases like this, I asked if he’d be willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there. Paul refused and demanded a hearing before His Majesty in our highest court. So I ordered him returned to custody until I could send him to Caesar in Rome.”

 

Gospel: John 21:15-19

After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Master, you know I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

He then asked a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Master, you know I love you.”

Jesus said, “Shepherd my sheep.”

17-19 Then he said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, “Do you love me?” so he answered, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I’m telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you’ll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, “Follow me.”

 

Prayer

Lord, our God,
you have appointed shepherds in your Church
to speak your word to us
and to build community in your name.
We pray to you today:
May they be shepherds like your Son
who look for those who have lost the way,
bring back the stray, bandage the wounded
and make the weak strong.
May they all be ministers
of your tender love and service,
as Jesus was, your Son and our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Fire of forgiveness

The Gospel text focuses on the figure of Simon Peter. The evangelist specifies the role of the apostle Peter in the community that Jesus wants to establish: he is called to feed and tend the sheep of the Lord and to bear witness to Christ through his life. The Gospel according to John recovers, so to speak, the role of Peter in the key of love. Only the one who loves can shepherd the flock gathered by love. Only he who responds to the love of Christ is capable of being responsible for his flock.

Jesus, therefore, before entrusting Peter with the charge of Shepherding the Church, invites him to a confession of love. The three-fold question of “Do you love me more than these,” seemed to balance Peter’s triple denial of Jesus during his trail. The sin of Peter provided the context for what would follow. Jesus does not reproach him for anything. Just insist on love. This insistence of Jesus can be interpreted as the condition to establish a relationship of communion, of friendship, of sonship that Peter has to have with the Lord.
Pastoral ministry is not a position of prestige and power but a vocation to experience the intimate love of the Lord and to share that love and compassion of the Lord with one’s brothers and sisters.

Peter, who is purified in the fire of forgiveness, could humbly say “Lord, You know everything; You know that I love you ”(Jn 21:17). I am sure that all of us can say it from the heart “(Homily of Pope Francis, Thursday 23 May 2013)

The mission of the Church and of each of her disciples is always carried out in the following of Jesus, which begins when we answer his question: “Do you love me?” «Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you». This beautiful text of the Gospel reminds us that both the love Jesus has for us and the love we profess for him, passes through the care of others. The Holy Spirit grants us the grace to remain lovingly in following Jesus.

Lord, our God, you have appointed shepherds in your Church to speak your word to us and to build community in your name. May they be shepherds like your Son who look for those who have lost the way, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. May they all be ministers of your tender love and service, as Jesus was, your Son and our Lord.

 

Video available on Youtube: Fire of forgiveness