“By His wounds you have been healed”

Meditation for Good Shepherd Sunday, Year A

(Acts 2:14a, 36-41; 1 Peter 2:20-25; Jn 10:1-10)

Let us meditate on the mystery of vocations as we celebrate vocation’s Sunday today. The holy Catholic Church looks at vocation through the eyes of Jesus the Good shepherd. The shepherd leader is humble and makes sacrifices for the good of the ones under his care. Such a leader does not grab power by force or through bad ways, but he goes through the right process. Vocation begins with God’s call.

 

St Paul says that God “chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Eph 1:4-5). Created in God’s image and likeness, we are called to live in love with God and one another. And God gave man the mandate to increase and multiply, and to work and conquer the earth. All these must fulfill God’s plan for us in Christ even before the foundation of world. Every vocation germinates from our vocation in Christ to be holy and spotless.

 

Therefore, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers…I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” So, Jesus is the way… (Jn 14:6). In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). He has given us the pattern of how to lead and carry out our vocations. That is why when they asked Peter in the first reading, “What shall we do?” He said, “Repent, and be baptized every oneof you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, the Holy Spirit, working through faith in Jesus Christ, leads us forward to discover our vocations and to carry them out diligently and humbly like the good shepherd.

 

The second reading describes how Jesus leads us as the Good Shepherd, leaving us an example to follow in His steps. The first quality mentioned there is innocence. The Good Shepherd must be upright. He does not take revenge nor threaten anyone; “But He trusted to Him who judges justly.” Thus, He does not waste time judging or condemning anyone. He endures suffering for the good of others, creating opportunities for them to flourish, even to eternal life. “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Sunday 30, 2023.

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