In the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
God knows me and calls me by name:
“The Shepherd calls his own sheep by name.” I am always impressed by this truth.
It is amazing that I am known by God and I am called by him! God created us and
redeemed us. He knows me better than I know myself. This reminds me of what the
prophet Isaiah says: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by
your name; You are Mine” (Is 43:1). “The LORD called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name” (Is 49:1). Saint Paul says:
“... he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.” It is wonderful that God was
already thinking about me before the creation, already thinking about each one
of us from all eternity.
God knows us and calls us. However,
why does he call us? In today’s Gospel, we find the answer: “I came so that they
might have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus wants to give us life in
abundance. In the Good Shepherd, we find total correspondence to the longings of
our human hearts.
The responsorial Psalm says: “The
Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” Why then, in our own
personal experience, do we feel the lack of so many things? This is because we
do not really follow the true Good Shepherd. We are like rebel sheep and think
we can find what satisfies our thirsts and hungers by ourselves. As a result, we
are often disappointed and anxious. It is not easy to be a humble and obedient
sheep that follows the Shepherd. It is hard for us to accept an authority that
guides us. For example, many Catholics do not want to follow what the Church
teaches in important matters of personal life.
The individualism of our culture
views obedience and discipleship as alienation. Nevertheless, we can only really
find ourselves when we follow the One who knows us and calls us to receive
abundant life. If we follow Christ, we can experience what is described in the
Psalm: “In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads
me; he refreshes my soul.” In Christ, we really can find repose and refreshment
for our souls.
Our problem is that we do not really
believe that Christ can totally satisfy our hungers and thirsts. We doubt that
Christ can fulfill our lives. Thus, our faith becomes abstract and distant from
our real aspirations. Instead of viewing Christ as a real person, we reduce Him
to a pious image or religious concept. Such a Christ is not someone who knows me
and calls me by name.
There is a crisis of faith. Modern
culture has separated God from daily life. Even if we are Catholics and attend
Mass, we are also children of this culture. In the first reading, Saint Peter
says: “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” There is work we need to
do; there is initiative we need to take. We can no longer remain passive members
of the flock.
We live in times of confusion about
the most basic things. Profound transformations are occurring in society. The
current situation challenges us to live our faith in a more personal way. The
social context that used to support Christian life is no more. We can no longer
be anonymous sheep among the flock. Our times require sheep with a deep
certainty about the Good Shepherd, sheep that are not only known by the Shepherd
but who actually know their Shepherd.
“The Shepherd calls his own sheep by
name.” As we celebrate the Sunday of the Good Shepherd, let us ask Our Lord to
grant us the grace to hear his voice. May we hear our names uttered by the One
who knows us and calls us.
In the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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