What do we look for in a Good Shepherd

  

What do we look for in a Good Shepherd? This question comes to mind as we reflect on the weekend's readings. There is a diverse amount of commentary that seeks to guide our understanding of how we form young men for the priesthood. We are called to help form people into shepherds of souls. Yet this is not something that can be done in isolation from the people whom they will be called to serve.

The Vatican study group that reflected on priestly formation emphasised the important role that women undertake in that formation process. This recognises that women and men have an equal dignity in sharing their charisms in building up a community of faith. Those in formation for the priesthood need to grow in maturity and confidence through the mentorship of those they are called to serve. They need to be immersed in people’s lived realities. This shifts from a purely academic, insular training to one that seeks to build communities of faith through active discernment of God's voice in their daily lives. This engagement seeks to explore how, in a digital age, we can be cluttered by the many things that seek to draw our attention away from Gospel living. As Pope Francis says, they need to have the smell of the sheep. They need to be familiar with walking among them and listening to their voices.

We can see in the readings that everyone needs to encounter themselves as beloved by God and to bear faithful witnesses to that abiding love. We cannot share with others what we have not received ourselves. They need to hear the voice of God that speaks to our hearts as we hear St. Peter stress the need to die to our own faults and live for holiness. It is through our wounds that we are healed.

This is stressed in the Acts of the Apostles: we are called to repentance, forgiveness of sins, and baptism. This movement, stressed by St Peter, calls upon people to have their broken hearts healed. In this, we start to see that the sacrament of penance is not just a ritual to be undertaken but an encounter with the risen Lord. As we seek to recognise what ties us up in knots, we are called to an honest evaluation of what burdens us so that we can speak it aloud. This allows the Lord to meet us when we are in deepest need and when we carry a load that is too heavy for us. The weight of our sins is not just a quick fix for all our problems; it addresses the inner darkness that threatens to destroy us.

The psalmist stresses how God seeks to lead us to good pasture, guides us by restful waters, and revives our drooping spirits even in the darkest night. The psalmist also sees this as leading us to a banquet that will be prepared even in the sight of our foes. This is to seek goodness and kindness that allows us to dwell in the House of the Lord. What appears essential is that we do not need to be perfect when we set out on the journey, but we need to trust that we are heading in the right direction. We care to encounter the person of Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

The Gospel stresses the need to hear his own voice. This calls us to be close to the shepherd who leads us in and out safely. We are awoken to an awareness that Jesus seeks to walk with us on our journey of faith. God will always be faithful if we open our hearts, especially at moments of brokenness, grief, and sadness. Thus, a shepherd is a person who can bear his own wounds so that he can shepherd and guard others. Thus, the person called into ministry needs to recognise themselves as a wounded healer.

So, this poses a deeper question for us: how do we recognise the Good Shepherd who walks among us and calls us to nurture people in their vocation? It draws us back to take our baptismal calling to be disciples to heart. Priests do not appear by magic; they emerge from communities like ours. They seek to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd that will help others to be guided to be healed, nourished and forgiven. As we pray for those discerning this call, we also seek to nurture our own baptismal vocation to be priest, prophet, and king, helping others to meet the risen Lord.