It is Good Shepherd Sunday. The fourth Sunday of Easter is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” The image of the Good Shepherd is one of my favorite images of the Bible. You find it in many Christian homes and in many churches. The image of the Good Shepherd was the most popular scriptural metaphor to be translated into images by the early Church. It is good to know that in the ancient world, the Good Shepherd was invoked not only by the Jews, but it was also found in pagan funeral monuments bringing his promise of comfort. The figure of the shepherd was a staple of pagan decoration which filled Roman town houses with idyllic vignettes of rural life. This shepherd was no different: he is young and beardless, dressed in the short tunic of a Roman farm laborer with wallet or baskets slung around his body, and he carries a sheep across his shoulders while two stand at his sides. Later on, the image of the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep appears over and over on the catacombs reassuring those who waited with the sleeping dead for the new life of God. One of the most beautiful representations is in the Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome, dated 250 AD, where a woman buried in a small chamber is portrayed raising arms in prayer to a Good Shepherd on the ceiling vault.

The figure of the Good Shepherd is undoubtedly meant to represent Christ. Even though in biblical text and in art from the earliest times Christ is not only the shepherd but also the sheep. The early Christians understood that the followers of Christ are like the trusting sheep, whom the Good Shepherd, Christ, knows and they know him. He has retrieved the lost sheep and is bringing them back to the fold, as he will carry home the souls of the faithful.

This is a beautiful image to use in prayers in this season of Easter as we reflect on our Salvation through the saving passion and the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. It assures us of Jesus’ care for all of us. I know that I am one of Jesus’ flock, that he protects me from the wild beasts, theft and inclement weather. Jesus defends you and me as his own flock and He died for us (Jn 10:15). He still leads us, his sheep, to water and comforts us. He keeps his flock together and goes out to search for the sheep that have gone astray.

The parable of the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:1-6, 10-16) also emphasizes not only the unity of one flock under one shepherd but also the apostolic mission of the Church. Pope Saint John Paul II, in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, called us to pray for vocations, keeping in our hearts the promises of God to his people that He will give them shepherds from his heart (Jer 3:15) and the promises of Jesus, the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11), who entrusted to the apostles and their successors the ministry of shepherding God’s flock (Jn 21:15).

As we contemplate the Risen Lord as the Good Shepherd, we pray for our shepherds in the Church. We pray for them to always recognize that Jesus is the gate for all the sheep and to have a good relationship with Jesus as they follow the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in leading the sheep He entrusted to them. Also, let us keep in our prayers the Seminarians of our Archdiocese of Cincinnati who will be ordained deacons on Saturday April 28 and the deacons who will be ordained priests on May 19.